Sudan Nashra: Military tightens grip on RSF in Khartoum’s final battle | 44 killed in SPLM-N (al-Hilu) attack on military-held Kadugli | RSF continues amassing forces for Fasher battle

Khartoum is poised to pay yet another heavy price, compounding nearly two years of devastation. Now, it teeters on the edge of becoming the final battlefield in Sudan’s war-ravaged central region.

In April, 2023, Khartoum became the epicenter of one of the fiercest urban battles in its modern history. From there, the war spread to other states, but the capital remained under near-total Rapid Support Forces (RSF) control for 22 months. Now, with the Sudanese military rapidly closing in, the RSF faces the prospect of being completely driven out — bringing the war to a decisive turning point.

For most of the war, RSF fighters moved unchallenged through Khartoum’s streets in their beige uniforms, patrolling in military convoys. They occupied sovereign buildings, including the Presidential Palace, where they at times lounged in the office of the Transitional Sovereignty Council Chair and the military’s commander-in-chief, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. Meanwhile, military units remained entrenched in their bases, cut off from each other.

But today, with supply lines secured and forces linked up, the military is sending tanks through Khartoum’s streets from the west, south, and east. RSF forces now find themselves besieged in pockets across the city, including the Presidential Palace.

With the military gaining the upper hand in battles across the Khartoum, Gezira, White Nile, and River Nile states this week, its forces are mounting a new large-scale offensive from outside the capital. If the military manages to cut off the RSF’s last remaining escape route — the Jabal Awliya Dam bridge — the paramilitary group could be completely trapped inside Khartoum.

Intense fighting in Gezira State this week brought military forces to Khartoum’s outskirts via multiple routes, setting the stage for a major assault on the capital.

The military reached the Nuba area from northern Gezira on Thursday, followed by Masudiya the next day, closing in just a few dozens of kilometers from Khartoum. The RSF in Gezira now holds only Giyad, an area administratively part of Gezira but geographically in Khartoum.

On the eastern Gezira front, the military and its allied Sudan Shield Forces advanced deep into East Nile in Bahri, advancing around Soba Bridge — the main route linking Khartoum to Wad Madani.

Meanwhile, military forces advancing from northern White Nile State and northwestern Gezira are closing in on Jabal Awliya, the RSF’s largest stronghold south of Khartoum.

Inside Khartoum, the Armored Corps units broke out from their positions on Wednesday, pushing toward central Khartoum. They seized multiple strategic locations, including residential neighborhoods, Sudan’s currency press, and the Strategic Battalion camp. The military is now just hundreds of meters from the Mogran area in the west and the Arab Market to the northeast.

In South Kordofan, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North, led by Abdel Aziz al-Hilu — locked in conflict with the military long before this war began — shelled the military-held city of Kadugli on Wednesday, killing around 44 people and injuring dozens others, according to the medical director of Kadugli General Hospital, who spoke to Mada Masr.

Meanwhile, in western Sudan, North Darfur, particularly its capital Fasher, remains the most intense battleground. Both sides, especially the RSF, continue to amass troops, preparing for what could be a decisive confrontation that would dictate the fate of the Darfur region.

***

Military reaches Khartoum’s outskirts from northern Gezira 

Intense battles broke out in Gezira State on Sunday as the military pushed to reclaim its northern parts, where RSF fighters entrenched themselves after fleeing from Wad Madani in January. The military regained control of Hasahisa, Kamlin and Refaa cities, along with other key locations along the Wad Madani-Khartoum main road, reaching the outskirts of the capital.

A field source told Mada Masr that early Sunday morning, the military advanced toward the three cities — the RSF’s last major strongholds in Gezira — and surrounding villages and towns. In response, the RSF deployed reinforcements from the Bagir area, south of Khartoum, to defend its positions.

The assault on Hasahisa was launched from two main fronts, the source said — one pushing north from Wad Madani’s outskirts and another advancing from the west, led by the military’s Managil unit. The offensive involved battalions from the popular resistance forces — the Asham al-Watan and Abdallah Jamaa forces — as well as police units and the Sudanese intelligence military arm, the Anti-Terrorism Forces.

Later on Sunday, the western front reached the Tabat Abdel Mahmoud area in northern Gezira, while the southern front dismantled the RSF’s main defensive lines, the source said.

As Hasahisa fell, the military also reclaimed Refaa on the eastern bank of the Blue Nile and secured the bridge that connects it to the former on the western bank. RSF fighters in Hasahisa had no choice but to retreat north toward Kamlin.

Hasahisa, an important industrial and agricultural hub, has been a frequent target of military airstrikes since November. It served as a supply route for the RSF to central Sudan after the military’s recapture of the strategic Jebel Moya area in Sennar State last October.

According to the field source, the military seized several RSF combat vehicles and detained fighters and collaborators following extensive combing operations in the city and nearby villages.

Another field source told Mada Masr that RSF forces retreating to Kamlin — in the northernmost part of Gezira, near Khartoum — regrouped and set up new defensive lines, positioning fighters atop tall buildings.

On Monday, limited clashes broke out in Kamlin, with both sides exchanging artillery fire and drone strikes. One such attack killed RSF Gezira commander Abdallah Hussein.

Hussein was a prominent RSF field commander involved in key battles, including the August 2023 assault on the Armored Corps and clashes at the Khartoum Sports City and Central Reserve camp. After the former RSF commander in Gezira Abu Agla Keikal defected to the military last October, Hussein was appointed to lead RSF operations in the state.

Before joining the RSF in March 2023, Hussein was the leader of the armed Revolutionary Awakening Council for Change and Correction and had fought as a mercenary with Libyan National Army Commander Khalifa Haftar’s forces. His recruitment into the RSF was arranged by Ali Yacoub, the RSF commander who led attacks on Fasher and was later killed in an ambush last June. 

On Tuesday, following the death of Hussein, the military launched a major assault on Kamlin, where RSF defenses quickly collapsed. RSF fighters once again fled north toward Khartoum, allowing the military to establish forward positions in the villages of Takina and Meseed, according to a local source in Kamlin who spoke to Mada Masr. By Thursday, military forces reached the Nuba area along the main road to Khartoum and advanced into Masudiya the following day.

A source from the mobilized forces fighting with the military told Mada Masr that the battle for Nuba lasted for hours, during which the military dismantled RSF defenses and captured combat vehicles and equipment. The military is now pushing further north toward Giyad — the last area under RSF control in Gezira. Although it is administratively part of Gezira, it is located in southern Khartoum.

Meanwhile, a local source told Mada Masr that the cluster of villages known as the Black Box, deep within Hasahisa locality, saw intense clashes with RSF forces on Monday and Tuesday. With military reinforcements, local fighters managed to reclaim the town of Mehereiba.

By Thursday, these forces moved westward, capturing the villages of Goz al-Naga, Faki Hamed, and Kombo al-Sadig, while also engaging in intense battles with the RSF in Abu Quta, near Jabal Awliya in Khartoum.

The Black Box, a cluster of 18 villages, formed local defense groups following the fall of Wad Madani in December 2023 to protect themselves from RSF incursions.

The Abu Quta Resistance Committees stated on Friday that the military and mobilized forces reclaimed the Qantara 17 village, three kilometers from Abu Quta city, adding that its recapture is only a matter of time.

A military source told Mada Masr that on Tuesday, another force advancing westward from Kamlin recaptured the town of Sariha, the site of an RSF-led massacre last October, before continuing to push toward Kab al-Jadad.

According to the source, the military’s advance toward Kab al-Jadad and Abu Quta in northwestern Gezira is part of a strategy to encircle RSF forces in southern Khartoum and Jabal Awliya, a key supply route for RSF reinforcements and combat vehicles arriving from western Sudan to Omdurman and Khartoum.

Meanwhile, a field source told Mada Masr that RSF positions in northern White Nile State, which borders Khartoum, saw a significant retreat in several areas. The military, on the other hand, continued its advance, reaching Wad Zaki area, the source added, anticipating intense clashes in the coming days. 

The RSF evacuated 17 positions and checkpoints along the main road in northern White Nile, the source said. Several fighters crossed the White Nile River by boat toward the Sheikh al-Sadig area, the source added, joining other groups that fled from central Khartoum on their way to western Sudan.

***

Military advances in central and western Khartoum 

Military spokesperson Nabil Abdallah announced on Wednesday that Armored Corps forces in southern Khartoum advanced northward, securing the Remeila area, the National Medical Supplies Fund building, the industrial zone, and the Sudan Currency Printing Press buildings.

Abdallah added that military forces were inflicting heavy losses on the RSF across all fronts and in successive operations.

The RSF, however, countered these claims, stating instead that it was the military suffering severe losses at their hands across all fronts.

Pro-military social media pages shared videos of soldiers advancing through the industrial zone in central Khartoum.

The Armored Corps’ special operations forces also engaged in intense clashes on Monday to reclaim the Strategic Battalion camp to the south of the General Command and near the Mogran area in western Khartoum. The battles lasted until Wednesday, when the forces secured full control of the camp and captured several armored vehicles, a field source told Mada Masr. However, their forces later withdrew to their positions in the industrial zone, according to the source.

On Thursday morning, intense fighting resumed as the military advanced once more into the camp and nearby areas, the source added. Clashes are ongoing as the military seeks to reach Mogran and link up with their forces.

The commander of the military-allied Baraa Ibn Malek Battalion, Mesbah Abu Zeid, stated on Thursday that fewer than two kilometers now separate the Mogran forces from the Armored Corps units. He noted that if the two forces connect, it would reopen the route from the Engineers Corps in Omdurman to the Armored Corps and the Shagara, Gabra and Yathreb neighborhoods in southern Khartoum.

A senior military officer told Mada Masr that 27 military units had been deployed in and around Khartoum and were set to launch simultaneous operations to decisively end the battle for the capital. They predicted that the coming days would see major confrontations leading to a final military victory.

***

Military forces converge in East Nile, Bahri

The military-allied Sudan Shield Forces, led by Abu Agla Keikel, advancing from the northeastern Gezira State linked up with Sudanese military forces stationed at the Ailafoun camp in the East Nile area in Bahri.

Keikel’s forces have carried out several operations in the East Nile over the course of January. 

The Aifaloun camp, under siege since the war’s outbreak, is a strategic military stronghold that would serve as a supply line behind the battlefronts in Khartoum. The military has maintained its foothold there throughout the war.

On Tuesday, Burhan visited the Wad Abu Saleh area in East Nile, a day after it was recaptured and the siege on the Ailafoun camp was lifted. Control over this area would effectively cut off all supply routes to the RSF in East Nile. A military source told Mada Masr that Burhan’s visit was likely intended to oversee the military’s latest preparations to secure a decisive victory in the battle for the capital.

On Sunday, the military and Sudan Shield Forces operating in eastern Gezira took control of the towns of Tambul and Refaa. The advancing forces then joined military and Anti-Terrorism Forces units in East Nile, tightening the siege around the strategic Soba Bridge — a key access point to Khartoum along the northern bank of the Blue Nile.

A Sudan Shield Forces source told Mada Masr that the military and its allied forces have now imposed a triangular blockade on RSF positions in East Nile — encircling them from the south at Ailafoun, the east at Samra, and the north at Marabea al-Sharif. The maneuver has severely restricted RSF movement, leaving their forces under constant attrition, the source said.

***

44 killed in SPLM-North (al-Hilu) shelling of Kadugli

To the south, forces from the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North, led by Abdel Aziz al-Hilu, launched an attack on the capital of South Kordofan State, Kadugli, on Monday. The city, under military control, was struck by artillery fire from SPLM-N positions in the eastern mountains. 

The SPLM-N (al-Hilu) has been in conflict with the military in their territories in South Kordofan and southern Blue Nile State since 2011. Following the ousting of former President Omar al-Bashir and in the years leading up to the outbreak of the war in 2023, the Sudanese military and the rebel group existed in a state of neither war nor peace, renewing a ceasefire agreement on an annual basis. Since the war, fighting has resumed between the two — except for a precarious alliance when the RSF attempted incursions into SPLM-held areas.

Eyewitnesses at Kadugli General Hospital told Mada Masr that several artillery shells fired from the eastern mountains struck the city’s market, as well as nearby schools and residential areas. The hospital’s medical director, Mohamed Amin, told Mada Masr that the death toll reached 44, with around 35 others injured, including 20 children.

Military forces in the region, backed by General Kafi Tayara's brigade, are working to restore security and reopen the road linking Kadugli and Dalang, Kadugli military region commander Faisal Mokhtar told Mada Masr.

SPLM-N (al-Hilu) has held control over Kadugli’s outskirts since last August.

Large-scale operations are underway to connect the cities of South Kordofan, backed by the Fifth Infantry Division, a senior military source told Mada Masr.

A field source told Mada Masr that operations around Kadugli during this week killed several SPLM-N soldiers.

***

RSF continues to amass troops in Fasher

Intense fighting persists in North Darfur as RSF convoys continue to amass around Fasher, positioning along the state’s borders with West and South Darfur.

A Sudanese military intelligence source told Mada Masr that a fleet of RSF vehicles, equipped by Libyan National Army Commander Khalifa Haftar, entered Sudan through the Chadian border in late January.

Another military source said that the military carried out airstrikes on Tuesday and Wednesday, targeting RSF positions in Tina, Kolbus, and Kabkabiya, where RSF forces had been mobilizing.

While the airstrikes might delay an RSF offensive on the city, a source within Fasher’s Sixth Division intelligence told Mada Masr, they are unlikely to prevent it entirely, making the upcoming battles on the outskirts of Fasher pivotal.

Meanwhile, RSF forces have begun structural reorganization to regain control over multiple fronts, an RSF military source told Mada Masr. Despite setbacks in central Sudan, the source said, the RSF remains committed to rebuilding its operations and continuing its military campaign to reclaim lost ground.