Sudan Nashra: War in Khartoum intensifies | Unresolved battles in Babanusa | Sudanese military’s airstrikes in North Darfur

Almost a year since the war in Sudan erupted, the cities of the capital, Khartoum, echo with memories of the early days of clashes on the morning of April 15 last year. The capital’s military landscape has become the fiercest battleground in a bloody conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, spanning across 12 out of the country’s 18 states, with particular intensity in five of them.

As the Sudanese military continues its steady advance in Omdurman, seizing control of the old city after months of street warfare, the third city of the capital, Bahri, has emerged as a new battleground in the struggle for sole control over Khartoum.

In the west of the country, the Sudanese air force conducted raids in North Darfur, the only state in the Darfur region that has not fallen into the hands of the RSF. 

In military-controlled West Kordofan, clashes around the city of Babanusa continue for the third consecutive month with no sign of resolution in sight. Situated on the border with South Sudan, the city has seen fierce attacks by the RSF, despite pleas from civil leaders to refrain from engaging with the military in the area due to fears that an offensive would ignite the city’s delicate tribal and ethnic dynamics.

In the neighboring state of Gezira, adjacent to the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, the Sudanese Armed Forces is preparing for a large-scale ground offensive. The military buildup was underscored this week by a visit by Sudanese Armed Forces Assistant Commander-in-Chief Yasser al-Atta to the neighboring state of Sennar, military sources told Mada Masr.

On the political front, the US Special Envoy to Sudan Tom Perriello is engaging in meetings with Sudanese political groups and regional authorities in his first African-Arab tour since assuming office on February 26, as part of his efforts to advance Sudan’s endeavors to bring an end to a year of war. 

Simultaneously, Atta aimed fresh criticism at the president of the United Arab Emirates, Mohamed bin Zayed, accusing him of seeking control over Sudan’s ports, among other ulterior motives for supporting the RSF in the ongoing war. 

And finally, the Civil Front for Democracy, an initiative led by former Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, is locked in an internal division as calls for reform from within intensified this week.

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The situation in Bahri

With the armed forces achieving a major military breakthrough in Omdurman last week, the military is preparing to make a decisive push to end the divided control over the Sudanese capital of Khartoum. 

Pressure from military operations in Omdurman has pushed the RSF to turn their sights toward the Armed Forces Signal Corps, located on the southern edge of the city of Bahri and the northern bank of the Blue Nile. 

The Signal Corps secures the Sudanese military’s General Command in central Khartoum, with only the Blue Nile Bridge separating the two. It also serves to secure the armed forces bridge, northeast of the General Command, and plays a crucial role in controlling access to the old neighborhoods of Bahri.

Thus, for the RSF, it serves as a site from which the military can begin to move into Bahri to cut off its supply routes and divide its forces, besieging them in specific points.

Fearful of the mounting military advance, the RSF initiated its first attack on the Signal Corps on March 16, a field source from the Signal Corps told Mada Masr, deploying forces in three directions in a synchronized attack that lasted about three hours. The military managed to repel the attack, according to the source. 

In response, the military set up ambushes in the Kadro area, north of Bahri, on the road linking Kadro and the Gaili Oil Refinery — the RSF’s main supply route — in attrition operations that cost the RSF dozens of combat vehicles, soldiers and fuel trucks.

Subsequent fierce clashes erupted on March 17 and 18 in Bahri between battalions affiliated with the operations authority — the military wing of the General Intelligence Service — and the RSF at multiple combat sites surrounding the Weapons Corps.

Field sources told Mada Masr that operations authority forces managed to repel an RSF attack from the north and east of the Weapons Corps camp, while also thwarting attempts to breach the camp from the west with their artillery, bolstering the camp's defenses.

A field source from the Signal Corps told Mada Masr that they anticipate further attacks on the camp, especially as the RSF leadership tries to offset their major defeat in Omdurman.

Another field source told Mada Masr that the military maintains control over the perimeter of the Weapons Corps, employing attrition tactics to deter the attacking forces, considering that the RSF is losing its previous advantages, such as firepower density and military equipment.

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Gezira returns to the forefront of the war, Sudanese military’s assistant commander on tour

After almost a year of relentless battles, the tide of war is turning in favor of the military, after the armed forces seized the Engineers Corps in the south of Omdurman and the Karrari military area in the north. Karrari houses around 39 military camps with various units and weaponry. 

The Karrari military area, which includes the Wadi Sidna air base, serves as the central base linking military operations to supply lines, facilitating the connection of the military’s forces in Khartoum to the rest of the divisions and military bases across Sudan.

The importance of connecting the Engineers Corps to Karrari, according to a source in the military supply command, is that the armed forces transformed Karrari into a strategic and logistical zone, enabling the military to then expand its operations to the remaining areas and military camps in Khartoum.

The source told Mada Masr that the armed forces are currently securing supply lines across all military zones, particularly in regions where the two sides are clashing, such as Babanusa, Obeid, Sennar, Gadarif, Kosti and Managil.

The military’s operations are most intense on the Khartoum front, with an ongoing advance into West Omdurman, in areas like Ombada and Fatehab. The military launched its operations from the Engineers Corps, launching artillery shelling on RSF positions in the western part of the city.

Omdurman’s residents continue to bear the brunt of the ongoing military operations. 

The RSF shelled the Wadi Sidna military base, impacting the surrounding neighborhoods. 

A resident of the Garafa neighborhood in northern Omdurman told Mada Masr that the RSF’s shelling toward civilian residences has not relented, disrupting access to essential supplies for residents in recent days.

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The military mobilization in Gezira State has intensified as both the Sudanese military and the RSF bolster their presence in key strategic locations. 

The Sudanese military has reinforced its military equipment at three focal points: east of al-Faw city, west of Managil city, and south in Sennar State. 

The RSF has also concentrated its forces, especially in eastern Gezira, anticipating decisive battles between the two sides in the coming weeks. 

Following a mysterious withdrawal of the Sudanese armed forces from Wad Madani in December, the RSF captured the city and vast parts of Gezira State. The military is now attempting to reclaim the area through a large-scale ground assault by deploying multiple military units.

On Monday, the RSF conducted a surveillance assault on the Major Khamsa area in al-Faw in Gadarif State, adjacent to Gezira. However, according to a field source, the military repelled the attack and managed to destroy five RSF combat vehicles and capture five others, inflicting casualties and injuries among the paramilitary’s ranks. 

Local residents told Mada Masr that the RSF has amassed additional forces in eastern Gezira, particularly north of al-Faw and in the Umm al-Qura area, the hometown of the RSF commander in the state, Abu Agla Keikel.

In a related context, Sovereignty Council member and Assistant Commander-in-Chief Yasser al-Atta visited Sennar State to oversee the forces’ preparations on the city’s northern outskirts for the impending Gezira battle.

Atta's statements in Sennar, where he reiterated the military’s readiness to decisively resolve the Gezira battle, also included a series of accusations against the UAE for its role in supporting the RSF.

"Mohamed bin Zayed ignited the war in Sudan because he wants to control Sudan’s agricultural lands, mineral resources, and ports. Mohamed bin Zayed bought off the terrorist Dagalo militia to carry out his agenda," Atta said. "The state and its regular forces were forced into war, fighting for the dignity of the Sudanese people."

This comes at a time when wide areas in Gezira are facing internet, power and water services disruptions. Individuals who fled RSF-controlled areas told Mada Masr of ongoing heinous violations against civilians.

Ahmed Hussein, a resident who fled from al-Hasahisa to Kassala city in eastern Sudan, told Mada Masr that RSF members are now seizing portions of farmers' produce at gunpoint, imposing charges on water and electricity services, and charging additional fees for vehicle passage.

Hussein also said that RSF members sexually assault two staff members at the Hasahisa Pediatrics Teaching Hospital. A nurse who witnessed the incident told Mada Masr that she screamed for help.

Hussein said that residents of some villages near the Tabit al-Sheikh Abdel Mahmoud area were forcibly displaced after being subjected to extensive looting.

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Fierce battles in Babanusa, Sudanese military strikes RSF’s Zurug base

The Sudanese military conducted airstrikes on the RSF’s Zurug military base in North Darfur State on March 18. Military sources from Fasher’s Sixth Division told Mada Masr that weapon and ammunition depots at the base were destroyed.

The Zurug base serves as the RSF’s main supply line, where weapons are brought in through the Chadian borders and then distributed to various zones, including to RSF fighters engaged in battles in West Kordofan State in the vicinity of the 22nd Division in Babanusa.

Fierce battles erupted around the 22nd Division, where the military repelled five major RSF attacks, according to field sources in the city. The RSF is attempting to seize control of the 22nd Division, the largest stronghold of the Sudanese military in West Kordofan State and one of the most strategic military divisions, due to its proximity to the South Sudanese border.

Local leaders in Babanusa have extended substantial support to the Sudanese Armed Forces, with the civil administration making efforts to impede RSF advancements by pleading with the paramilitary’s deputy commander, Abdel Rahim Daglo, not to attack the city.

Some RSF units in West Kordofan State handed over their military equipment to the civil administration in Nuhud city. These administrations operate under the jurisdiction of the Humr tribal administration, which has been working to suppress any activities that could impact security in the state, delegating the task to security committees affiliated with the state’s government. Despite the RSF’s two-month-long attempts to seize control of the 22nd Division, West Kordofan State remains under military’s control.

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Civil Front for Democracy in times of trial, US special envoy to Sudan on tour

The Civil Front for Democracy is holding intense meetings in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, the most impactful being the one convened by the front’s key member, the National Umma Party, with the front’s leader, Abdalla Hamdok.

Shehab al-Tayeb, a leader in the front, told Mada Masr that the realities of Sudan’s war have impacted civil forces and their alliances across the board. “What the Umma Party has put forward concerns organizational issues, and there are some issues related to the recent experience of the Civil Front for Democracy in terms of composition. This requires more joint work, but the Umma Party has the right to express its opinion on the way to manage alliances,” Tayeb told Mada Masr.

Tayeb noted that the Civil Front for Democracy is moving forward with plans for the foundational conference, which he said would address many obstacles related to organization and operational management. He affirmed that they have shared a flexible political vision with US Special Envoy to Sudan Tom Perriello, underlining the importance of civilian involvement in any forthcoming negotiation rounds.

Perriello met with several civil and political figures in Cairo. 

Journalist and political analyst Osman Mirghani did not rule out a new US policy toward the Sudanese crisis. 

Mirghani, who met with the American envoy, told Mada Masr that there are some conclusions that the US reached through previous rounds in the Jeddah Declaration, as well as in meetings conducted by former US Ambassador John Godfrey with Sudanese civil and political forces.

He added that Perriello is looking to build on these conclusions in a fresh manner, aiming to chart a new course for US involvement in the Sudanese crisis. Mirghani noted that Perriello has a significant mandate from the US State Department and the Biden administration.

Mirghani anticipates that this approach would manifest in the coming weeks before the situation becomes irreversible, stressing the urgency of addressing the Sudanese issue as a crucial factor for successfully reaching a peace agreement to end the war.

He further said that Perriello is open to all political forces, expecting him to meet with all factions, adding that the US envoy wishes to visit Sudan if the necessary security assurances are in place.