Sudan Nashra: Rising prospects for Sudan govt participation in Swiss ceasefire talks | War spills over into Blue Nile | Military acquires advanced weaponry

Sudan’s ongoing war continues to expand into new regions, with no significant military breakthroughs in sight.

Over the past week, the Blue Nile region saw clashes as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) launched an attack on the village of Garewa and attempted to capture the Qali area near Damazin, the region’s strategic capital. While the military repelled the attack, the Damazin resistance committee stated that the RSF later returned to raid an unguarded Garewa. 

On the political front, a source from the Transitional Sovereignty Council and from the Foreign Ministry told Mada Masr that the military government is likely to participate in the United States-mediated Swiss talks on August 14, following reassurances from the US government addressing their concerns. 

On Friday, the Sudanese government announced the dispatch of a delegation to Jeddah led by Minerals Minister Mohamed Bashir Abu Namo to consult with a US delegation regarding the invitation to the talks. Preliminary meetings were previously requested by the Sudanese government to set the stage for the negotiations.

As hopes rise for a new round of talks between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF, the military’s assistant commander-in-chief, Yasser al-Atta, gave an address on August 3 on Sudanese national television where he said that the armed forces had acquired advanced weaponry. Atta also noted the formation of an international alliance in support of Sudan. 

Atta also took the opportunity to renew his attack on the United Arab Emirates, calling its president, Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan the "Devil of the Arabs." A military source told Mada Masr that Atta’s criticism of Abu Dhabi is backed by clear evidence of its support for the RSF. 

Throughout the past year of covering Sudan’s war, Mada Masr has observed the Sudanese military forging agreements with countries like China, Russia and Iran to secure weapons, while distancing itself from traditional allies like Egypt and Turkey. 

On the military front, operations remain focused on Sudan’s central, southern and western regions, which have been complicated by heavy rains and floods that have disrupted several key roads linking the country’s states. 

In Darfur in western Sudan, the RSF has intensified its shelling of various parts of the regional capital, Fasher. Meanwhile, the military-allied armed movements’ joint force has taken control of strategic areas in the desert north of Fasher, including Wadi Arouri, thwarting attempts by RSF-allied Chadian militias to seize it.

Chadian militias, part of the Chadian armed opposition, are providing the RSF with logistical support, including military vehicles that have been employed in direct combat in Khartoum and Fasher.

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Where is the military getting its weapons from?

A military intelligence source told Mada Masr that Atta’s remarks about acquiring advanced weapons, Sudan’s involvement in a new international alliance — details of which were not disclosed — and the continuation of military operations until the RSF is eliminated reflect the prevailing sentiment within the military. 

In his interview with Sudan’s national television, Atta stated that the military had obtained advanced weapons capable of putting an end to the RSF rebellion. 

A source in the military supply sector told Mada Masr that the advanced weaponry mentioned by Atta include precision-guided artillery, long-range missile launchers and weapons suitable for urban warfare in terms of targeting, mobility and maneuvering, and engagement in combat.

A military source at the Wadi Sidna military base in northern Omdurman told Mada Masr that the recent territorial gains in western and southern Omdurman were achieved thanks to the deployment of these newly acquired weapons following training on their use. Another source in the Sudanese Air Force told Mada Masr that a group of air force officers had been trained in Turkey in the use of various types of drones. 

A source from the Transitional Sovereignty Council told Mada Masr that the government had secured the necessary funds to purchase these weapons. However, the source accused the UAE of obstructing some of the military’s shipments by sea, disrupting several arms deals and holding ships carrying military equipment in some Red Sea countries. The source declined to name the countries involved.

The Sudanese military relies on recently revived historical ties with Russia for its arms supplies. 

Iran also plays a strategic role in the Sudanese military’s weapons development. Sudan has adapted Iranian reconnaissance drones into combat drones, namely the Zajil-1 and Zajil-2, which are locally manufactured versions of the Iranian drones. 

In late May, a military source told Mada Masr that Sudan had acquired both advanced and conventional weaponry from China and Iran, without disclosing details on the Iranian military supply. However, another military source said that the Sudanese Armed Forces employed Iranian-manufactured Mohajer-6 drones in its Khartoum battles. A diplomatic source told Mada Masr at the time that the military supplies coming from Iran constitute no diplomatic infractions or threats to the region’s peace and stability. 

A military logistics source told Mada Masr that the military’s supply situation is stable, particularly after the recent acquisition of heavy and medium weapons. “This means that the military’s upcoming battles will be more intense,” the source added.  

A military source at the Wadi Sidna military base told Mada Masr that ensuring stable supply has recently been a key focus for the military. Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, addressing his soldiers in the Wadi Sidna and Omdurman military areas in early July,  stated that it is the military’s mission to ensure the provision of weapons and equipment for all its fighters. 

Sudan has also been turning to China for support, not only for military supply but also in the oil and mining sectors. There are ongoing discussions on building a new oil refinery in Port Sudan and rehabilitating the Gaili oil refinery in Khartoum, as well as the power plants devastated by the war. Beijing has also pledged US$300 million to Sudan’s mining sector.

These burgeoning ties with China are expected to be reflected in Burhan’s upcoming decisions, according to a sovereignty council source who spoke to Mada Masr, including forming a supreme petroleum council and the consolidation of state electricity companies under a single entity. 

The Sudanese Defense Minister made two visits to Beijing in recent months, one public and the other secret, accompanied by leaders of armed movements, according to a military source who told Mada Masr that both visits were focused on acquiring Chinese weapons.

In 2022, Sudan requested to purchase Chinese J-10CE fighter jets, adding to its existing fleet of Chinese aircraft, including the Guizhou JL-9 and Nanchang Q-5.

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War spills over into Blue Nile, bordering Ethiopia, South Sudan

The war in Sudan has expanded once again in the past week, spreading into the southern Blue Nile region.

A field military source told Mada Masr that the military repelled an RSF attempt to seize the Qali area in Tadamun locality, near the regional capital of Damazin.

According to the source, the RSF infiltrated Damazin from its western side, first attacking the Garewa area, where they killed six police officers, before attempting to attack Qali with eight combat vehicles, as well as motorcycles and civilian cars that had been looted and used in the attack. 

The military’s 15th Brigade of the Fourth Infantry Division repelled the assault, the source said, capturing two double-barreled combat vehicles and inflicting several casualties in the RSF’s ranks, though six soldiers from the military were also killed in the confrontation.

However, the Damazin resistance committees stated on Tuesday that RSF militias had re-entered the unguarded village of Garewa for a second time, confirming their continued presence in the Tadamun locality. Nevertheless, the statement also noted that the security situation across the Blue Nile region, particularly in Damazin, remains stable.

The military has bolstered its presence in Qali, deploying additional troops and military equipment to secure the area, according to a local source who spoke to Mada Masr. This is part of a broader military buildup involving local residents joining forces with the military, the source said, adding that the combined forces in Damazin and its surrounding areas reached around 30,000 soldiers and mobilized locals.

A former military officer, who spoke to Mada Masr on condition of anonymity, suggested that the RSF’s attack on the western areas to Damazin is part of a strategy to encircle the city, capturing strategic points that would give them an advantage should they decide to storm the city. 

The officer added that if the RSF were to capture Damazin, it would have far-reaching consequences for the military, as it would cut off vital border routes between Sudan and both South Sudan and Ethiopia. It would also sever alternate roads connecting the White Nile State with the Kordofan and Darfur regions, as well as with the eastern states and other parts of Sudan, leaving these areas in complete isolation. Furthermore, control of Damazin would allow the RSF to occupy strategic locations, such as the Roseires Dam, which is a key source of hydroelectric power for the surrounding regions and the area’s extensive rain-fed agricultural lands.

However, the officer said that an RSF takeover of Damazin would be very difficult, given the ferocity of the military’s Fourth Infantry Division stationed in the city, which has extensive combat experience from years of fighting against the Sudan People's Liberation Movement. The military also enjoys strong popular support in the region, the source added.

In addition to the soldiers and mobilized groups, forces from the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), led by Malik Agar, the deputy chair of the Transitional Sovereignty Council, are defending the region against the RSF. However, the SPLM-N’s breakaway deputy leader Joseph Tuka remains a significant concern, having engaged in several battles against the military in the southern part of the region in recent months. 

A local source told Mada Masr that, last week, Tuka had taken advantage of the military’s focus on its battles with the RSF elsewhere to capture the Baldogo area, about 300 kilometers south of Damazin. In response, the Sudanese Air Force launched several strikes on the area.

Mek Abu Shotal, a key tribal leader in the region, is also currently fighting for the RSF and is considered one of the paramilitary group’s most prominent commanders. 

Abu Shotal has lost much of his popularity and support among locals in the region due to his alliance with the RSF who have committed  atrocities against civilians, the source added. 

Local authorities stated last month that half of the Blue Nile’s agricultural lands exited production since the outbreak of the war in April 2023. The Qali area, which the RSF attempted to seize, is a significant source of crops such as maize, sesame, cotton and gum arabic. The current agricultural season in the Blue Nile region is facing many challenges, including farmers’ fears that the conflict will spread in the region and growing difficulties in securing financing and fuel for farming operations.

In this context, Abu Bakr al-Taher, the Agriculture Ministry’s director general in the Blue Nile region, proposed urgently airlifting agricultural inputs from Port Sudan in the east to Damazin, due to heavy rains and security threats along the road linking the Blue Nile region with eastern Sudan.

Taher said that the Agricultural Bank of Sudan has yet to approve funding for Blue Nile farmers during this season.

Many senior farmers left the region, Taher said, although agricultural projects are well secured. To address this gap, the regional government plans to work with displaced farmers from Sennar and Gezira, who bring both experience and agricultural equipment, Taher added. The government will allocate large farms to these farmers, aiming to meet the season’s target of cultivating 4 million feddans, in collaboration with the Humanitarian Aid Commision. 

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Joint force seize strategic area in North Darfur, Burhan appoints armed movement leader to sovereignty council

In western Sudan’s North Darfur State, the joint force has secured new gains in the desert war — a new dimension to Sudan’s ongoing war where the military-allied joint force and tribal members have mobilized to control RSF supply routes in border areas. The recent confrontation led to the capture of the Wadi Arouri area, a key logistical corridor for the RSF, which has facilitated the transport of military supplies from Chad into Sudan to support their attacks on Fasher.

A source in the joint force told Mada Masr on condition of anonymity that their military operations will persist at the same pace until all supply lines are cut. The source added that the joint force is also working to encircle the Zurug base, aiming to either capture it or render it completely inoperative.

A military source in the joint force had previously told Mada Masr that since the end of June, extensive military operations had been underway around the Zurug base, the largest RSF stronghold in North Darfur. By mid-July, Wadi Ambar, which houses subsidiary camps of the base, had been captured. 

Amid the ongoing desert battles in North Darfur, Burhan appointed Abdallah Yahya, leader of the Sudan Liberation Forces Alliance, to the sovereignty council on August 3, replacing Abu Bakr Hagar, former leader of the armed movement who was dismissed from the sovereignty council in November.

Yahya, who previously served as the movement’s military chief of staff and later as infrastructure minister following the Juba Peace Agreement, initially remained neutral after the war broke out and relocated with the government to the new administrative capital, Port Sudan. However, Yahya, and his movement’s military wing, eventually sided with the Sudanese Armed Forces in November. 

Yahya is a key figure within the joint force, coordinating their field operations.

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US State Department responds to Sudanese govt’s demands

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a phone call with Burhan on August 5 regarding his government’s participation in the US-mediated Swiss ceasefire talks scheduled to start August 14.

US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller stated that Blinken reiterated the need for the Sudanese Armed Forces to participate in the ceasefire talks in Switzerland. Blinken also stressed the urgent need “to end the fighting and enable unhindered humanitarian access, including cross border and cross lines, to alleviate the suffering of the Sudanese people.”

Burhan told Blinken that the government is open to negotiations but only under conditions that would lead to the cessation of hostilities, a source in the sovereignty council told Mada Masr on condition of anonymity. Burhan insisted that any talks should build on the agreements reached in Jeddah.

Burhan also pressed Blinken to address certain government concerns, affirming that the government’s legitimacy is non-negotiable and that the State Department must engage with Sudan’s official institutions in a manner that acknowledges their existence, the source said. 

Initially, the sovereignty council and Foreign Ministry rejected the US invitation, arguing that its format did not recognize Sudan’s state institutions. They also said that singling out the armed forces in the invitation undermined the other components of the transitional period, particularly the armed movements.

On August 9, the Sudanese government announced the dispatch of a delegation to hold discussions with its US counterpart regarding the talks, a request outlined in the government’s declared stance on the invitation, in order to establish a framework for the negotiations. 

The US’ “encouraging response” to the government’s demands, as an informed Foreign Ministry source who spoke to Mada Masr put it, has contributed to the government’s readiness to participate in the talks. A joint committee, comprising representatives from the sovereignty council and Foreign Ministry, has been formed to finalize an official response to the invitation, the source said.

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ICC prosecutor briefs UN Security Council on Darfur crisis

On August 5, International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan presented his 39th report on the situation in Darfur to the UN Security Council. 

Khan pointed to “credible reports of rape, crimes against and affecting children, [and] persecution on a mass scale inflicted against the most vulnerable civilians,” asserting that "terror has become a common currency."

Khan emphasized that these crimes and human rights abuses “are fueled by a sense of impunity,” not just politics and arms. The terror, he noted, is felt not by those who wield the guns, but by the civilians who flee the violence under dire humanitarian conditions. Khan stressed that these crimes are “not just echoes of the past. This is a nightmare that people are enduring today.” Khan reaffirmed that a central mission of his office is to attempt to provide protection to these vulnerable communities. 

Khan urged the UN Security Council to consider “creative ways” to stop the cycle of violence and asked, “Is everything being done that can be done to enforce peace, to give a ceasefire a chance [...]?”

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Famine Review Committee declares famine in Darfur’s Zamzam camp

The Famine Review Committee declared a famine on August 1 in Darfur’s Zamzam camp near Fasher. The camp houses more than 400,000 displaced people.  

The spokesperson for the General Coordination of Refugees and Displaced Persons in Darfur, Adam Regal, described the famine declaration in Zamzam camp as “only natural,” noting that the committee had already reported a collapse of humanitarian and health conditions across Darfur’s camps in May.

Regal told Mada Masr that Zamzam camp is just one of 171 camps in Darfur where displaced people are enduring severe shortages of life-saving medicines and food. He added that most of Fasher’s residents have fled to Zamzam camp, Tawila and Jebel Marra.

Those seeking refuge in Zamzam, Regal said, are struggling to secure the most basic necessities, further worsening conditions in the camp. He stressed that food scarcity is a crisis not only in Zamzam but across all camps.

Regal called on the Famine Review Committee to recognize the dire situation in all camps across Darfur and other regions, including Kordofan, Blue Nile, Kassala, Khartoum and Gezira.

He attributed the famine primarily to last year’s failed agricultural season, brought on by security risks, and the near-total absence of humanitarian aid deliveries since the onset of the war, except on rare occasions. 

Regal said that even hosting communities are in need of food supply, warning that without opening additional humanitarian access routes, the crisis could escalate to catastrophic levels, leading to genocide by starvation. 

North Darfur’s Health Ministry Director General Ibrahim Khater told Mada Masr that all Sudanese are currently facing hunger, not just those in Zamzam camp. He questioned the decision to limit the famine to Zamzam camp, suggesting that political motives might be influencing this assessment rather than reflecting the true extent of the famine.

Khater said that while food is available in markets and warehouses, the war led to widespread job losses and irregular salary payments since the onset of war, so citizens have no financial means to purchase their needs. Additionally, the RSF’s blockade on humanitarian aid, food and medicine has led to the famine, Khater said. 

Khater said that during his visit to Zamzam camp on August 2, he observed that “over 50 percent of the residents were absent, with many having left for farming.”

He confirmed that 20 trucks loaded with food supplies are currently in the markets, along with all other essential goods.

Khater also said that nine pregnant women died in the past week due to obstructed labor, as the RSF prevented them from accessing medical care in Fasher hospitals.