Sudan Nashra: Military recaptures Jebel Moya, road linking White Nile, Sennar | Transitional Sovereignty Council source: Burhan is to relocate to Atbara, govt denies

Roughly two weeks after launching its largest offensive in the capital, Khartoum, since the outbreak of the war, the Sudanese military achieved a breakthrough in Sennar, central Sudan, recapturing the strategic Jebel Moya axis. This comes as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) continue to face setbacks on various battlefronts. 

Intermittent clashes persist in central Khartoum, as well as in its south where the military advanced from the Shagara military area.

As the military pushes to gain control of the capital, a senior source in the Transitional Sovereignty Council told Mada Masr that its chair Abdel Fattah al-Burhan will relocate his residence from Port Sudan, which has severed as the defacto administrative capital, to the city of Atbara, north of Khartoum, citing the redistribution of government officials across different cities in the country.

However, in a statement to the press on Monday, culture and information minister, and government spokesperson, Graham Abdel Kader denied any decision to transfer the administrative capital from Port Sudan to Atbara.

In the west, the military, alongside the joint force of allied armed movements, continues to make advances in several areas of Darfur, including Fasher.

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Military recaptures Jebel Moya, links forces in Sennar, White Nile

Amid the ongoing expansion of military operations across various fronts, the Sudanese military recaptured the strategic Jebel Moya axis in Sennar — a critical junction connecting the eastern states to central Sudan. 

During the battles that broke out on Wednesday and concluded on Saturday with the capture of the area, the Sudanese Armed Forces, backed by the General Intelligence Service’s Anti-Terrorism Forces, also secured the vicinity of Jebel Moya and reopened the Sennar-Rabak road, linking Sennar and White Nile states. 

Transitional Sovereignty Council member and Sudanese Armed Forces Deputy Commander-in-Chief Shams Eddin al-Kabbashi arrived in Jebel Moya on Monday, amid the RSF’s denial of the military’s control over the area. 

The council stated on Saturday that Kabbashi oversaw the military operations in Sennar and White Nile to liberate Jebel Moya, and announced the reopening of the national Sennar-Rabak road. 

Securing the main road linking White Nile and Sennar allows for the transport of food supplies, reopens trade routes and ensures the protection of military supply lines from the eastern states. 

During the battle for Jebel Moya, the Anti-Terrorism Forces destroyed around 15 RSF four-wheel drive vehicles and killed around 50 fighters, a military field source told Mada Masr.

The military launched over four consecutive attacks over four days on areas leading to Jebel Moya, the field source said, weakening the RSF's advanced defenses. A military source in the command and control room in Sennar told Mada Masr that the battle on Saturday lasted seven hours.

A field source from the 18th Division in Kosti, White Nile, told Mada Masr that the division launched a wide-scale ground operation, targeting RSF forces positioned south of White Nile all the way to the border with Sennar. Following this, the division pushed to reach Jebel Moya from the north.

The convergence of forces from Kosti’s 18th Division with units from Sennar marks a significant development. A military field commander told Mada Masr that the operations in southern White Nile, and northern and western Sennar are aimed at securing both states and the Sennar-Rabak road to ultimately reclaim Gezira’s capital Wad Madani.

The fall of Wad Madani in December had given the RSF a strategic base from which to launch attacks and advance in Sennar and Jebel Moya. 

Jebel Moya, a mountain range surrounded by several villages west of Sennar, is located along a major road linking Sennar, White Nile and Gezira states. Its capture by the RSF in June and their control over the Sennar-Rabak road effectively isolated the city of Kosti and the military’s 18th Division. 

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Sources: Burhan expected to leave Port Sudan, govt spokesperson denies administrative capital relocation

A senior official in the Transitional Sovereignty Council told Mada Masr that Burhan will move his residence from Port Sudan to the city of Atbara in River Nile State, northern Sudan.

The source attributed the relocation to the redistribution of sovereign and government institutions, as Port Sudan lacks sufficient facilities to allow state institutions to operate at full capacity.

Burhan left the General Command in central Khartoum in August 2023, four months into the war that broke out between the military and the RSF in the capital. Since then, he has made Port Sudan the country’s temporary administrative capital. 

The source said that ministries are expected to be distributed across the cities of Kassala, Gadarif, Atbara and Merowe. Transitional Sovereignty Council Deputy Chair Malik Agar is set to relocate to Kassala, the senior official said, while the council’s military members Shams Eddin al-Kabbashi and Ibrahim Gaber will remain in Port Sudan, along with the other sovereignty council members representing armed movements. Meanwhile, council member Yasser al-Atta will remain in Omdurman, according to the senior official. 

Maintenance work at Atbara Airport has been underway since January, according to a government source in River Nile who spoke to Mada Masr, as part of preparations to accommodate the operations of the sovereignty council. 

Another source in the council told Mada Masr that, after Atbara, Burhan is expected to move to Omdurman in Khartoum State, once the military regains control over the city’s western region. The source added that the restoration of normalcy in Khartoum and the eventual return of military command and state administration to its center hinges on several factors, including military operations and post-war reconstruction plans.

However, government spokesperson and Culture and Information Minister Graham Abdel Kader denied in a press statement on Monday any directives or decisions to relocate the administrative capital from Port Sudan to Atbara.

Abdel Kader stated that a report circulating on social media claiming the administrative capital will be transferred to Atbara is false.

"No decision or directive has been issued by the relevant authorities on this matter, and thus we deny the report," he added. He further noted that several ministries have previously been assigned to operate from states aligned with their areas of focus and are currently carrying out their duties from those locations.

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Military attacks RSF positions outside Fasher

On Sunday and Monday, the military launched extensive operations targeting RSF positions east of Fasher, following several days of attacks by the joint force on RSF-held areas, inflicting losses in military equipment and personnel.

A source in the joint force told Mada Masr that the new combat strategy represents a shift from defensive to offensive tactics, with the goal of securing Fasher and driving RSF forces from their current positions in North Darfur. The source anticipated that the RSF would continue mobilizing its troops in preparation for an assault on Fasher.

Deputy RSF commander Abdel Rahim Dagalo is leading an extensive deployment and supply campaign to amass the largest possible number of troops and equipment to capture Fasher, a source close to Dagalo told Mada Masr.