U.S. officials and travelers inside the African nation of Sudan are being encouraged to shelter in place as gunfire and explosions rocked the capital of Khartoum. “Due to reports of heavy gunfire in several locations in Khartoum, Embassy staff have been ordered to shelter in place,” the U.S. Embassy in Sudan wrote in a warning. “American citizens are encouraged to shelter in place.” (https://www.foxnews.com/world/us-embassy-staff-sudan-shelters-place-paramilitary-force-seizes-presidential-palace) The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are clashing with Sudan’s army. The violent confrontation of the national army and RSF groups has escalated threats of a civil war for control of Sudan. The latest tensions between the army and paramilitary group stem from a disagreement over how the RSF should be integrated into the military — a key condition of an unsigned transition deal for Sudan. The army-RSF rivalry, however, dates back to the rule of autocratic President Omar al-Bashir, who was ousted in 2019.