KHARTOUM, Sudan -- Sustained firing was heard in the Sudanese capital Saturday morning amid tensions between the military and the country's powerful paramilitary forces.

The firing could be heard in a number of areas, including central Khartoum and the neighbourhood of Bahri.

Tensions between the military and the Rapid Support Forces, as the paramilitary is known, have escalated in recent months, forcing a delay in the signing of an internationally backed deal with political parties to revive the country’s democratic transition.