Khartoum, Dec 9 (IANS): The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) has denied committing any war crime during its ongoing clashes with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

"The armed forces is a national army with a solid military doctrine that respects international humanitarian law and cannot commit war crimes like the terrorist rebel militia," Nabil Abdalla, the SAF's spokesman, said on Friday in a statement.

The Sudanese army's statement came in response to a statement by the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, on Wednesday in which he accused both the SAF and the RSF of committing "war crimes".

On Thursday, Sudan's Foreign Ministry voiced rejection of the US accusations against the SAF of committing war crimes, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Ministry said in a statement that it was surprised by the accusation contained in Blinken's statement that the Sudanese army committed war crimes, describing the accusation as "baseless".

Sudan has been witnessing deadly clashes between the SAF and the RSF in Khartoum and other areas since April 15.

More than 12,000 people have been killed since the fighting broke out between the SAF and the RSF in mid-April, while 6.6 million people have been displaced inside and outside Sudan, according to the latest report of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs on Thursday.