Khartoum, Apr 16 (IANS): The Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have announced that it has taken control of the presidential palace, a strategic guesthouse inside the army's headquarters, and the Khartoum International Airport here in the capital.

The RSF said on Saturday in a statement that it also took full control of Merowe and El-Obeid airports, in addition to a number of strategic sites in the country.

The claims can not be independently confirmed as heavy gunfire exchanges were still raging in Khartoum, and the military has used warplanes to strike the RSF units, Xinhua news agency reported.

RSF announcement came shortly after the Army's general command announced that clashes erupted between it and the RSF troops at unnamed strategic sites.

"Clashes are now taking place between our armed forces and the rebel Rapid Support Forces at the strategic sites," the Sudanese army's general command said in a statement.

Heavy gunfire was heard on Saturday around a major RSF base south of the Sudanese capital Khartoum.

Eyewitnesses said that tanks of the Sudanese army were seen moving to the area where the RSF forces are stationed, amid escalating tension between the two parties.

The eyewitnesses also said that heavy gunfire took place on Saturday around Merowe Air Base, nearly 436-km north of the capital, Khartoum.

In an earlier statement, the RSF said its "forces were surprised in the morning when a large force of the armed forces enters our headquarters in Soba campgrounds in Khartoum and surrounds our forces there".

"The army force then attacked our forces with all kinds of heavy and light weapons," it added.

Deep differences have recently emerged between the Sudanese Army and the RSF, especially over the latter's integration into the Army, as stipulated in a framework agreement signed between the military and civilian leaders on December 5, 2022.