Sudan army claims major advances against RSF in greater Khartoum

Development marks one of army’s most significant advances since war broke out between army chief al-Burhan and RSF.

Sudan’s military says it has regained control of nearly all of Khartoum North as it intensified its offensive aimed at reclaiming full control of the capital from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The army, at war with the RSF since April 2023, has in recent weeks won back large swaths of the capital and its surrounding areas from the paramilitaries.

On Saturday, the military said it had recaptured Kafouri, a key district in Khartoum North, after pushing the RSF to the outskirts of the city which is also known as Bahri.

The district, one of greater Khartoum’s wealthiest, had been a key base for the paramilitary group, housing properties linked to senior RSF leaders, including Abdel Rahim Daglo, the brother and deputy of RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.

On Friday, the Sudanese army announced it regained control of Abu Quta in northwestern Gezira State from RSF.

In a statement, military spokesperson Nabil Abdullah said army forces and their allies on Friday pushed out “remnants of the Daglo terrorist militias” from Kafouri and other areas 15km (nine miles) to the east in Sharq El Nil.

On Thursday, a military source told the AFP news agency that the army was advancing towards the centre of Khartoum, while witnesses reported clashes there and explosions in the south of the capital.

With the new advances, the army has secured all cities and towns in Gezira State, except for Giad in the north and surrounding villages located 50km (31 miles) north of Khartoum.

However, as fighting rages on in the capital, Amnesty International raised concerns on Friday about potential reprisals in areas recently recaptured by the army.

The rights group cited reports of the circulation of lists targeting activists, human rights defenders, and medical and humanitarian workers, accused of being “partners of the RSF”.

In South Belt, a neighbourhood in Khartoum, the RSF on Saturday detained two members of a local volunteering rescue group at gunpoint from Bashair Hospital – the last partially functioning facility in the area, the group said in a statement.

On Thursday, the RSF had also reportedly detained the manager of Bashair Hospital, as well as the head of a soup kitchen and a volunteer, according to local rescuers.

Fears of reprisals

Last week, the UN human rights office documented at least 18 civilian deaths in Khartoum North since the army began its advance there in late January.

Following the army’s takeover of Gezira state capital Wad Madani last month, mass executions against civilians were reported.