CAIRO, May 18. /TASS/. The number of civilians killed in clashes between Sudan’s army and the Rapid Support Forces has increased to 833, the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors said on Thursday.

"Civilian fatalities in the clashes have reached 833, and 3,329 people have been wounded," the Al Jazeera news channel quoted the committee as saying in a statement. On Tuesday, the committee reported 822 deaths, saying that 3,215 civilians had suffered wounds.

According to the United Nations, the clashes killed 676 civilians and left 5,575 wounded as of May 14.

The situation in Sudan escalated amid disagreements between the army chief, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who also heads the ruling Sovereignty Council, and the head of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (known as Hemedti), who is al-Burhan’s deputy on the council. The main points of contention between the two military organizations pertain to the timeline and methods for unifying the armed forces of Sudan, as well as who should be appointed as commander-in-chief of the army: a career military officer, which is al-Burhan’s preferred option, or an elected civilian president, as Dagalo insists.

On April 15, armed clashes between the rival military factions erupted near a military base in Merowe and in the capital, Khartoum. Several attempts have been made to call a ceasefire since the conflict broke out.