Area near arms factory in Khartoum on fire as army and RSF battle for control

Massive fires are burning in an area of Sudan’s capital that houses an arms factory following clashes between paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) fighters and the army.

Images of the blazes in the Yarmouk area in the west of the city are being posted on social media and are visible on satellite images.

The RSF said it had taken control of the area, where there are number of factories, a military complex as well as oil and fuel storage facilities.

It blamed the armed forces for attacking the area on Wednesday and causing the infernos.

We have not been able to verify how the fires started, but images from Nasa on Wednesday show heat signatures picked up by satellite at several locations in the area.

The RSF also posted on Twitter a video showing its fighters inside a building, with one of them saying they were in a warehouse that stored weapons.

It is not clear when or for how long they were there.

At one point, the fighters are outside and a mosque is visible in the background. We have matched this to a mosque just north of the Yarmouk area.

Sudan’s armed forces have not commented officially on the fighting there.

Screengrab of Nasa FIRMS data

Heat signatures in the Yarmouk area of Khartoum detected by satellite

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