Sudan Nashra: China enters fray, signs economic, defense agreements with Sudan | Amhara militia captures Ethiopia-Sudan border town

As the war in Sudan enters its 17th month, the Sudanese government appears to have secured an influential international avenue that could allow it to reshape its policies to elevate its economic, military and diplomatic standing. 

In recent days, this new avenue opened up as the government  deepened its ties with China, a long-standing ally and Sudan’s largest economic partner in recent decades. China was instrumental in Sudan’s economic transformation, particularly with its oil extraction investments in the late 1990s.

On Tuesday evening, Sudan’s Transitional Sovereignty Council Chair Abdel Fattah al-Burhan left the country’s new administrative capital, Port Sudan, for his first visit to China — where he had previously served as a military consul — since assuming office in 2019. Burhan initially traveled to attend the Forum on China–Africa Cooperation’s 2024 summit alongside dozens of African leaders. However, the visit soon expanded to include the signing of economic agreements and the potential establishment of a new mediation channel between the Sudanese government and the RSF, facilitated by Beijing, several diplomatic and security sources told Mada Masr.

On the domestic front, the Sudanese Air Force ramped up its operations to an unprecedented scale. Airstrikes targeted RSF positions in the capital of Khartoum, including neighborhoods near the military’s General Command in central Khartoum and Bahri to the north. Senior RSF leaders were killed in the attacks.

The military also launched intense airstrikes on RSF sites in the cities of Wad Madani and Hasahisa, as well as several villages in Gezira State in central Sudan. The airstrikes have extended to areas in Sennar State in the southeast as well. 

In response, the RSF continued shelling the cities of Omdurman in Khartoum State and Fasher in North Darfur, which left scores of civilians injured and dead.

In eastern Sudan, tensions have risen along the border with Ethiopia, where an Amhara militia has captured a border town and a key Sudanese-Ethiopian trading post on the Ethiopian side of the border, separated from Sudan by a bridge only a few meters long.

On the humanitarian front, the national spokesperson for the World Food Program, speaking to Mada Masr, warned of an impending food security crisis, particularly in regions under siege due to the ongoing fighting, including Gezira, Darfur, Khartoum and Kordofan.

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Burhan in Beijing

On Tuesday evening, Burhan led a Sudanese delegation to Beijing to attend the Forum on China–Africa Cooperation’s 2024 summit, which began on Wednesday and is set to conclude today.

The Sudanese delegation includes Finance Minister Gibril Ibrahim, the Defense Industries System General Director Mirghani Idris, Foreign Minister Hussein Awad, and the ministers of trade and energy, along with officials from the Sudanese Mineral Resources Company.

A source in the sovereignty council told Mada Masr that Burhan is expected to hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss energy, mining and infrastructure projects, including airports and railways, as well as agricultural initiatives.

A diplomatic source told Mada Masr that despite the decline in bilateral trade to US$2.2 billion in 2021, China remains a strategic partner for Sudan, particularly in defense industries, with both sides benefiting from military cooperation spanning over 25 years.

On Friday, Burhan oversaw the signing of a strategic cooperation agreement between Sudan’s Defense Industries System and China’s Poly Group, the Sudan News Agency reported. The agreement, described as part of broader military support across various defense sectors, and similar contracts are expected to bolster Sudan’s defense and security capabilities, the news agency said. Poly Group’s general director stated that the deal would further strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries. 

In the mining sector, a source in the Finance Ministry told Mada Masr that Sudan’s investment relations with China, particularly in mining and iron ore exploration, continue to progress steadily. In November, the Sudanese defense and finance ministers visited China alongside Transitional Sovereignty Council Deputy Chair Malik Agar. In March, a Chinese delegation met with the finance minister, pledging $300 million in mining investments as an initial tranche. The finance ministry source said that the funds were received on February 1. 

In the oil sector, the Transitional Sovereignty Council stated on Wednesday that Burhan visited the headquarters of the Chinese National Petroleum Corporation, the largest company operating in Sudan’s oil industry and exploration. The visit focused on discussing the future of the corporation’s work in Sudan, with the Sudanese energy and petroleum minister describing the Chinese company as “the lifeline of Sudan’s oil sector” following the RSF’s destruction of oil facilities.

China is one of Sudan’s largest investors in the oil sector. Official Sudanese statistics show that Chinese investments in oil have totaled around $15 billion. However, the secession of South Sudan in 2011 cost China one of its most significant investment hubs in Africa.

Burhan is set to hold an extensive meeting with Jinping to discuss Sudanese-Chinese relations, a source at the Sudanese embassy in Beijing told Mada Masr. Committees within the sovereignty council have been preparing evaluation drafts on these relations, the source said. Another embassy source said that a separate meeting between the two presidents would be held to outline a future roadmap for bilateral relations.

A diplomat at Sudan’s permanent mission to the United Nations told Mada Masr that China is making significant efforts to safeguard Sudan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, amid what he described as the intransigence of other international actors at the UN Security Council seeking to destabilize the country, while disregarding the consequences of the RSF’s aggression against civilians.

The source added that China is working to establish a new mediation path between the government and the RSF, but emphasized that “this would not be confirmed until Burhan concludes his visit to China.” The source expected Burhan and Jinping to discuss China’s potential role in the mediation process, alongside topics related to Chinese investments in Sudan and their future development.

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Military intensifies airstrikes, RSF senior leaders killed 

Fighting intensified across the capital, Khartoum, this week. 

The RSF launched attacks on the Hattab and Kadro military camps in Bahri, which the armed forces managed to repel. Meanwhile, the military ramped up airstrikes on several other locations, inflicting significant losses on the paramilitary group, which retaliated with further indiscriminate shelling in Omdurman to the west. 

On Monday, the RSF attacked the advanced defenses of the Hattab operational base in Bahri, a military field source told Mada Masr, while simultaneously striking the Weapons Corps camp in Kadro, with the aim of distracting the military.

According to the source, the RSF initially made gains in the battle for Hattab, which lasted around 16 hours. They managed to capture a military position, taking soldiers prisoner and looting homes as well as the local market. They were, however, met by another military force, backed by tanks and heavy artillery, countering their advance and eventually forcing the RSF to withdraw.

In Kadro, the attack on the Weapons Corps camp was short-lived, with the military quickly repelling the assault. 

Several soldiers told Mada Masr that, on the Hattab front, the military seized fuel trucks, combat vehicles and civilian cars that had been looted and used by the RSF.

Another military field source told Mada Masr that the RSF’s second-in-command in Bahri, Major General Issa Abu al-Zeik, was killed in Hattab, along with Colonel Moussa Nilo and Major Washon al-Taher Washon. Several other soldiers were also captured or killed.

Meanwhile, the military significantly increased its air operations over central Khartoum. On Tuesday, fighter jets launched intense strikes on targets in Tuti, Mogran, Manshiya, Riyadh, Kafouri, and Gaili. The air force resumed its operations the following day, striking RSF gatherings on Tuti island, and at the Police Club in the Burri neighborhood, east of the General Command.

In response, the RSF renewed its artillery shelling of neighborhoods north of Omdurman, resulting in civilian casualties.

In Wad Madani, the capital of Gezira State in central Sudan, the military targeted RSF positions on Tuesday, launching airstrikes in Hantoub, Zamalek, and the central market areas, as well as the Kreiba, Beika and Talha villages. Other RSF positions were hit in Hasahisa, Hosh, Hajj Abdallah, and Um al-Qura, along with areas near the Sennar Sugar Factory.

To the west, in Darfur’s capital, Fasher, local residents told Mada Masr that the RSF fired dozens of shells into southern neighborhoods this week, killing two people in the Riyadh neighborhood and injuring several others. Residents also said that one shell struck a displacement camp at the Ibn Sina school, killing a child and severely injuring four others.

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Sudanese-Ethiopian border tensions

Late on Sunday, Sudanese authorities closed the Gallabat border crossing after Fano militias captured the Ethiopian city of Metema, near the Sudanese border. The closure has brought commercial activity and passport services to a halt.

A source from Gadarif governor’s office told Mada Masr that dozens of Sudanese citizens remain stranded in Metema.

Speaking to Mada Masr, General Mohamed Khalil, a professor of international relations and strategic studies, downplayed the significance of the Fano takeover, saying that it mainly relates to potential refugee influx. Khalil noted that several Ethiopian military forces fled to Gadarif after Metema’s capture.

Khalil said that the Fano militia poses little threat to Sudan’s national security, as their activities are limited to looting food and crops, adding that the Amhara militia does not systematically attack the Sudanese border. 

A source in Sudan’s General Intelligence Service told Mada Masr that the tensions along the border would not impact military operations in Sennar, adding that the Sudanese military has stationed a full division along the border with Ethiopia.

On Wednesday, on the sidelines of the Forum on China–Africa Cooperation’s 2024 summit, Burhan met with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to follow up on agreements made during the latter’s visit to Port Sudan in July, a sovereignty council source told Mada Masr. Their discussions also covered border tensions and Red Sea security, the source added, expecting that the Sudanese-Ethiopian rapprochement would lead to a joint effort in de-escalating military tensions in the Horn of Africa.

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Food security crisis looms

Mohamed Gamal, Sudan’s spokesperson for the World Food Programme (WFP), told Mada Masr that food security is particularly critical in conflict-stricken regions, including Gezira, Darfur, Khartoum, and Kordofan, where some areas are on the verge of famine.

Gamal warned that without safe access to humanitarian aid, another famine could be declared in one of these regions.

Gamal noted that the rainy season has significantly disrupted the movement of aid, particularly in Darfur, where humanitarian convoys were stranded at the Tina border crossing due to heavy rains. 

However, the WFP had managed to deliver 630 tons of aid following the reopening of the Adre border crossing in mid-August, Gamal said, enough to support 55,000 people. Additionally, aid reached around 20,000 people facing the threat of famine in Murnei in West Darfur State.

Gamal stressed that the WFP's capacity to assist those in need would be enhanced if safe humanitarian corridors were established and as road conditions improve once the rainy season subsides.

It is critical to ensure security and access for humanitarian workers, Gamal added, to allow aid organizations to plan effectively, save lives and prevent further deterioration, particularly in areas most at risk of famine.