Sudan's paramilitary RSF advances, seeks to cement control

FILE PHOTO: Lieutenant General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, deputy head of the military council and head of paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), greets his supporters as he arrives at a meeting in Aprag village, 60 kilometers away from Khartoum, Sudan, June 22, 2019. REUTERS/Umit Bektas/File Photo

CAIRO (Reuters) -The paramilitaries fighting the Sudanese army over the past six months have advanced and sought to consolidate their reach in the capital in recent weeks, eyewitnesses told Reuters.

Fighting between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) erupted on April 15 over tensions linked to a planned transition to civilian rule. It has devastated the capital Khartoum and sparked ethnically driven attacks in Darfur.