Sudan’s army has declared its rival paramilitary organisation, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a rebel group and has ordered its dissolution, as fighting between the two raged  for a third day, with the death toll continuing to rise.

Afghan Voice Agency (AVA) - Monitoring: The Sudanese foreign ministry said in a statement on Monday that General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, commander of the Sudanese army and the de facto head of state, had declared the RSF a rebel entity that was fighting the state and ordered its dissolution.

This formalised an earlier declaration by the state intelligence services and the language used by the army to describe the RSF from the first day of fighting.

Both sides have claimed that they are taking every precaution to ensure that civilians are not harmed in the fighting, which they blame on each other, reported Al Jazeera.

At least 97 civilians have been killed during the fighting, with the number expected to be higher, according to the Sudan Doctors’ Syndicate. The number of combatants killed is unknown. /Bakhtar