QUESTIONS ARE being asked about the role of the United States in conflict raging in Sudan, which comes after the military ruler signed a deal with Russia for a naval base.

Violence broke out between army factions just as the junta were finalising a deal with Vladimir Putin for a Russian base on the Red Sea coast facing Saudi Arabia which would access Israel.

US ambassador to Sudan, John Godfrey, flew into Khartoum as hostilities kicked off between factions loyal to the de facto leader, Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as Hemedti.

A US diplomatic convoy came under fire on Monday, the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed, amid news that over 180 people have died, and 1,800 were injured in three days of fighting.

The deal to allow 300 Russian troops to use the strategic Port Sudan on the Red Sea had alarmed Western experts, as Putin intends to keep up to four navy ships, including nuclear-powered ones, at the base.

Last September, Godfrey warned Sudan of “consequences” if it went ahead with the Russian military base.

Concerns are growing that Sudan is effectively now in a proxy ‘Cold War’ between the US and Russia, with the Kremlin extending its influence Westwards at the same time as NATO expanded influence Eastwards with Finland joining the alliance.

CNN reported that Russia is smuggling gold out of Sudan to fund its’ war in the Ukraine, and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) supporting Hemedti was founded by the former leader Omar al-Bashir, a Russia ally and US foe.

The RSF had been due to merge with the Sudanese army under an internationally-backed plan to facilitate transition to civilian rule, but on Monday al-Burhan ordered the force to be dissolved. The conflict is now fueling fears of a civil war.

Kim Searcy, professor of history at Loyola university, Chicago, said the coups did not happen in a vacuum. “They did not happen on their own. You have different superpowers who are getting involved.”

Kholood Khair, a political analyst, told Al Jazeera that while RSF and the army had worked together to overthrow al-Bashir, they had very different visions for the country.

She said “There are signs they are working together to escalate the tensions” because both have an interest in consolidating military power, in contrast to pro-democracy supporters.

Sudan has long been beset by foreign-influenced coups, and has suffered them every decade for the past 60 years. 

Sudan is a former British colony, with London sharing control of the land with Egypt, before Sudan gained independence in 1956.

The region was the scene of many local wars backed by US and Soviet Union proxy’s during the Cold War, with America spending a reported billion dollars on weapons for Sudanese allies.

After the end of the Cold War, the country hosted Osama bin Laden before he moved to Pakistan and escalated Al Qaeda’s war on the West, which saw the US become increasingly concerned and involved in Sudan’s affairs.