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Washington’s top diplomat said Tuesday that a U.S. Embassy convoy came under fire in Sudan and denounced “indiscriminate military operations” as the country’s armed forces and a powerful rival unleashed heavy weapons in urban areas for a fourth day.
The convoy of clearly marked embassy vehicles was attacked on Monday, and preliminary reports link the assailants to the Rapid Support Forces, the paramilitary group battling Sudan’s military, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters. Everyone in the convoy was safe, Blinken said.
The Sudanese military said the attack took place in Sudan’s restive Darfur region.
The convoy attack, along with earlier assaults on aid workers and the EU envoy’s residence in the capital of Khartoum, signaled further descent into chaos since the battle by two rival generals for control of Africa’s third-largest country erupted over the weekend.
More than 185 people have been killed and more than 1,800 wounded, according to U.N. figures, which did not include a breakdown of civilians and combatants. The Sudan Doctors‘ Syndicate said Tuesday that at least 144 civilians were killed and more than 1,400 wounded since Saturday.
The overall death toll could be much higher because clashes in Khartoum have prevented the removal of bodies in some areas.
The two sides have been using tanks, artillery and other heavy weapons in densely populated areas.
Late Monday, fighter jets swooped overhead and anti-aircraft fire lit up the skies as darkness fell. Fighting resumed early Tuesday around each side’s main bases and at strategic government buildings — all of which are in residential areas.
