Sudan Nashra: Turkish official to visit Port Sudan to discuss Turkey’s UAE-Sudan mediation initiative | Over 460 RSF fighters killed in North Darfur | Military destroys cargo plane in Nyala suspected to deliver UAE supplies to RSF

As Sudan enters 2025, the country’s devastating conflict drags on, driving it closer to fragmentation and collapse. For over 20 months, the war has subjected Sudan’s 48 million citizens to unprecedented suffering, marking one of the darkest chapters in Sudan's history — even against the backdrop of nearly seven decades of civil wars. Over 25 million people face severe food insecurity, while around 14 million have been forced into displacement, creating the world’s largest displacement crisis, with no end in sight.

The intensity of military operations continues unabated. This zero-sum war, deeply entangled in ethnic and regional dynamics, now engulfs 10 of Sudan’s 18 states. However, the fiercest battles are concentrated in Khartoum, Gezira and North Darfur.

As military operations carry over into the new year, disrupted communication in central Khartoum and the complete lack of connectivity in the desert regions of North Darfur obscure the full extent of the clashes. Western Sudan grapples with widespread hunger and displacement, while central Sudan is becoming increasingly depopulated, with only isolated communities amid rapidly shifting battlefronts.

From a military standpoint, the Sudanese Armed Forces appear to be achieving what a senior military source described to Mada Masr as “strategic victories.” In central Sudan, the military expelled the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) from Sennar State, which had fallen to the paramilitary in July 2024. In Gezira, however, intense battles continue, yet a field commander at the Butana camp told Mada Masr that it is only a matter of time before the military fully asserts control over the state.

Meanwhile, military airstrikes continue to target RSF positions in Darfur and Khartoum. On Wednesday, a strike on South Darfur’s Nyala Airport destroyed a cargo plane suspected of delivering logistical supplies from the United Arab Emirates to the RSF, a military source in the Wadi Sidna Air Base told Mada Masr. 

This comes as Port Sudan prepares for a visit by Turkey’s deputy foreign minister, who is set to discuss Ankara’s vision for a UAE-Sudan mediation initiative put forward by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a phone call with Transitional Sovereignty Council Chair Abdel Fattah al-Burhan two weeks ago. 

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Turkish deputy foreign minister to arrive in Port Sudan to discuss UAE-Sudan mediation

A source at the Foreign Ministry told Mada Masr that Burhan reviewed recommendations from a specialized committee tasked with analyzing the UAE’s position and evaluating aTurkish initiative proposed by Erdogan to settle the disputes between the two countries. 

The committee's recommendations, according to the source, call for a comprehensive solution, which includes halting the UAE’s support for the RSF and ensuring the RSF’s compliance with the Jeddah Declaration. 

Erdogan offered to mediate between Sudan and the UAE in a phone call with Burhan on December 20. The Transitional Sovereignty Council stated that Burhan welcomed “any Turkish role that could contribute to ending the war caused by the rebel RSF militia.”

The Sudanese military and state have repeatedly accused Abu Dhabi of funding and supporting the RSF. The UAE continued to deny these claims, yet a United Nations panel of experts confirmed them in a January report, as did several international press reports. 

A sovereignty council source told Mada Masr that Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Burhanettin Duran is expected to visit Sudan’s administrative capital of Port Sudan on Saturday. During the visit, Duran is scheduled to meet with Burhan and Sudanese Foreign Minister Ali Youssef to present Turkey’s vision for the mediation initiative, according to the source. 

In a speech marking Sudan’s 69th Independence Day, Burhan expressed openness to all initiatives aimed at ending the ongoing war. "The path has been clear — it is the people’s path, rejecting a return to the pre-April 15, 2023, status quo," he stated. Burhan vowed that the presence of what he referred to as “militias of killers” and their backers would not be tolerated again.

The Foreign Ministry source also said that Burhan received a congratulatory message from Chad’s President Mahamat Deby on the occasion of Sudan’s Independence Day. However, neither the sovereignty council nor the Foreign Ministry has issued an official statement about the message. 

Port Sudan has accused Chad of serving as a transit point for the passage of UAE-supplied weapons into Sudan through its western border. 

A sovereignty source who spoke to Mada Masr suggested Deby’s move was merely a political maneuver, pointing to Chad’s decision to block thousands of Sudanese refugee students from sitting for their high school exams.

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Clashes in White Nile outskirts, military pushes to break Obeid siege

In the White Nile State, fighting continues on the northeastern front, with the RSF deploying heavy artillery and drones to strike military positions. The military has countered with airstrikes and barrel bombs, particularly around the strategic Jabal Awliya dam, which the RSF uses as a transit point and operational base. 

Meanwhile, fighting subsided in the northwestern front, where the military advanced to the outskirts of the Um Rawaba city on December 1.

In North Kordofan, where the capital, Obeid, has been under RSF siege since the onset of the war, the military continues to conduct special operations in the region, aiming to link Obeid to major routes, including the Obeid-Bara-Omdurman and Obeid-Kosti roads, according to a military source in Obeid’s Fifth Infantry Division (camel cavalry).

Despite the blockade, residents of Obeid have managed to transport goods and move in and out of the city using dirt roads. 

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Joint force: Over 460 RSF fighter killed in North Darfur

In North Darfur, battles continue on the northeastern axis in Fasher, which has been under relentless RSF attacks since April 2024. A military source in Fasher’s Sixth Infantry Division told Mada Masr that southern Fasher is under heavy shelling, and that most hospitals in the city have been rendered inoperative. Meanwhile, the RSF continues to shell the Neifasha and Abu Shouk displacement camps, aiming to destroy infrastructure, according to the source.

North of Fasher, in northern Malha and Malit, intense battles broke out on December 28 and 29 as the military-allied  joint force countered an RSF attack aimed at breaking the force’s siege on Malit, according to their statement. The joint force reported killing over 460 RSF fighters, including key commanders, and destroying over 60 military vehicles and seizing an additional 39 intact and fully equipped vehicles during the clashes.

After the clashes subsided, a smaller RSF unit attempted to infiltrate the joint force-held Jabal Eissa area in northern Malha, a field source told Mada Masr. The joint force intercepted the attackers, leading to clashes at around 5 pm. According to the source, the RSF unit, including its commanders, was completely neutralized. The source said that the joint force destroyed over 43 military vehicles during the clashes and captured 21 in excellent condition.

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Military source: Cargo plane destroyed at Nyala Airport

In South Darfur, the military launched airstrikes on the Nyala Airport and residential areas within the city on Wednesday evening. A military source from the Wadi Sidna Air Base told Mada Masr that a cargo plane, suspected of delivering logistical military supplies from the UAE to the RSF, landed at the airport earlier that day. The source said that the air force destroyed the plane with around 11 high-explosive rocket launchers, which also damaged significant portions of the main runway. 

Military airstrikes continue to target RSF positions, the source said, destroying checkpoints and warehouses in South Darfur, as well as in Jabal Awliya and Khartoum’s Manshiya neighborhood.

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Naval forces join Khartoum battles, military continues advance in southern, western Omdurman 

The Sudanese military is steadily advancing across Khartoum. While the battles have yet to see a decisive breakthrough, military operations persist with intensity on multiple fronts.

On Sunday, the military, supported by mobilized groups and other regular units, seized the headquarters of the Ombada locality administration in western Omdurman. Simultaneously, Engineers Corps units advanced into the Salha neighborhood in the city’s south, according to two field sources who spoke to Mada Masr.

One of the field sources said that military forces advanced early Sunday into Ombada’s Hara 6 and 7 via Radmiya Street and side roads. After intense clashes, they captured the locality's administrative headquarters and the Sheikh al-Saem Dima religious school, destroying RSF positions and killing snipers stationed in tall buildings. According to the source, the forces are now around two kilometers from the RSF’s final strongholds in western Omdurman — the Libya, Qandahar and Dar al-Salam markets. 

The source said that around 30 RSF fighters were killed in the clashes and several were injured, while four military soldiers were killed. The military captured 120 mm and 82 mm artillery pieces, various weapons and motorcycles, the source said. Advanced defensive lines have since been established near the Libya and Qandahar markets.

In southern Omdurman, the second field source told Mada Masr, the military continued its advances along the southern axis toward the RSF-held Salha area. Special operations units from the Engineers Corps launched a strategic operation, breaching RSF defenses near Salha and securing large areas of the western bank of the White Nile, adjacent to the Shagara military zone south of Khartoum. 

Salha serves as a key logistical route for the RSF, connecting Darfur and the capital via White Nile’s Jabal Awliya dam. 

The source also said that the military conducted airstrikes targeting RSF positions in the Muthalath area west of the Jabal Awliya dam in western Omdurman. The strikes inflicted casualties on the RSF and destroyed several of their fuel depots, according to the source. 

Securing Omdurman would enable the military to cut off the RSF supply lines to southern and central Khartoum, bringing the military closer to reconnecting the capital’s military camps with the General Command.

Meanwhile, in Bahri, heavy fighting continues. The military is advancing to break the RSF siege on the Signal Corps camp in the south, while the RSF defends its positions in central Bahri to maintain its efforts to isolate military forces.

A military source told Mada Masr that the military is advancing toward the Signal Corps camp and central Bahri via three main streets — Mur, Mauna and Ingaz — alongside several other side streets.

The military has evacuated several families trapped in the Shambat neighborhoods, the source said,  and made further advances along the Ingaz Street axis, capturing several strategic positions. According to the source, less than four kilometers now separate military forces advancing from northern Bahri from those stationed at the Signal Corps camp.

However, the battle remains complex, according to the source. The RSF has reinforced its presence in central Bahri with additional troops and advanced weaponry, including drones and Kornet missiles. In response, the military mobilized more forces and military equipment on Monday, with expectations of decisive confrontations in the coming period.

A source in the command and control room in the Wadi Sidna base told Mada Masr that the military has deployed over 50,000 additional troops across key frontlines in Khartoum.

The military’s naval forces also joined the battle on Wednesday, launching a surprise attack using riverboats against RSF positions near the Shambat Bridge, which connects Omdurman and Bahri. The source suggested that these targeted operations along the Nile would intensify pressure on RSF troops in Bahri.

A senior Sudanese military officer told Mada Masr that operations in the capital are steadily progressing in the military’s favor despite significant challenges. These, according to the officer, include the use of civilians as human shields in RSF-held areas and the deployment of RSF snipers atop Khartoum’s tall buildings, delaying the military’s infantry advances. However, the officer highlighted the RSF’s increasing fragmentation and exhaustion. The main troops are scrambling to fill in the gaps, the source said, given the increased reliance on rogue elements and looters, exacerbated by the loss of critical command and communication structures, as several commanders were targeted by the military.

The officer added that the military is likely to intensify specialized operations targeting strategic RSF assets, such as depots, leadership hubs, communication centers, jamming stations and supply convoys, while focusing on intelligence-led operations in general. "The military will aim to accelerate its push toward the General Command in central Khartoum, a move that will significantly influence the trajectory of the conflict," they said.

Former opposition officer Hossam Zuelnoon, meanwhile, described the April 15, 2023, conflict as one of the most challenging wars due to its widespread nature, multiple battlefronts and the need for diverse combat expertise, tailored weaponry, strategies and tactics, which are all required to achieve the overarching objective of the war. Speaking to Mada Masr, Zuelnoon commended the military’s strategy, which he said effectively dismantled the RSF’s combat capabilities, leaving it fractured into a collection of bandits and militias focused on looting and evading the military’s attacks rather than pursuing strategic objectives.

"The course of battles in the capital since September 26, 2024, marked a clear turning point. The military’s river crossings and maneuvers across axes in Khartoum, southern Khartoum and Bahri signaled a shift from maintaining cohesion and undermining the RSF’s military machine, to initiating the offensive to defeat their forces," Zuelnoon said.

"The liberation of Bahri is nearing completion after the military’s advance early Thursday into the RSF’s largest stronghold at Khartoum University’s Agriculture Faculty. The combined land and river advances have brought the [armed forces] closer to fully connecting military zones in Karari, Kadro, the Signal Corps camp and the General Command."