Sudan's army pounds paramilitary bases with air strikes in power struggle

[newspotted]

By Khalid Abdelaziz and Nafisa Eltahir

• Sudan's army appears to gain upper hand, witnesses say
  59 civilians and scores of fighters killed in clashes
  UN food agency says 3 employees killed, halts operations

KHARTOUM, April 16 (Reuters) - Sudan's army appeared to gain the upper hand on Sunday in a bloody power struggle with rival paramilitary forces, pounding their bases with air strikes, witnesses said, and at least 59 civilians were killed including three U.N. workers.

The fighting erupted on Saturday between army units loyal to General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of Sudan's transitional governing Sovereign Council, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, who is deputy head of the council.

It was the first such outbreak since both joined forces to oust veteran Islamist autocrat Omar Hassan al-Bashir in 2019 and was sparked by a disagreement over the integration of the RSF into the military as part of a transition towards civilian rule.

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