CAIRO, April 17. /TASS/. More than 50 employees of a hospital in the center of Sudan's capital and dozens of victims have been blocked by ongoing armed clashes between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (special forces) units, the Qatari TV channel Al Jazeera reported on Monday, citing a source at the medical facility.

According to these reports, a shell hit the hospital building in Khartoum, resulting in casualties. The TV channel El Sharq reports active fighting of the conflicting sides near the building of the General Staff of the Sudanese armed forces located in the center of the capital. There are also reports of fighting with the use of heavy artillery in the southern outskirts of Khartoum and in the city of Omdurman.

According to the Al Hadath TV channel, large wholesale markets in the Sudanese capital have ceased working due to the tense situation, and retail store owners are already facing a shortage of basic goods due to increased demand from local residents.

The situation in Sudan escalated due to disagreements between SAF commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who also heads the Sovereign Council (the country’s governing body), and his deputy in the council, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the Rapid Support Forces chief. On the morning of April 15, clashes broke out between the two groups near a military base in Merowe and in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum. According to the latest figures from the Sudan doctors’ union, some 100 civilians have been killed in the fighting, while the WHO reports more than a thousand casualties.