Sudanese military captures Wad Madani, begins multi-front push toward Khartoum

At noon on Saturday the Sudanese military re-entered Wad Madani, the capital of Gezira State, via the Hantoub Bridge, the same entry point the Rapid Support Forces used to invade the city 13 months ago.

The military’s recapturing of the city sent RSF troops fleeing to the state's peripheries, military sources told Mada Masr.

Celebrations broke out across Sudanese cities and among the diaspora, with jubilant crowds gathering in Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

The step marks a major advance in the offensive the military launched a week ago to drive the Rapid Support Forces out of Gezira. With it, the military has regained control of the pivotal region of central Sudan, shifting the dynamics of Sudan's war and securing the upper hand for the military, which now plans to continue its advance toward Khartoum. 

The Sudanese Armed Forces launched a three-pronged offensive on Monday (reported by Mada Masr in the latest edition of the Sudan Nashra) which has played out over the last week and seen the military taking numerous villages to advance to positions just a few kilometers outside of Wad Madani. Less than 24 hours later, their forces entered the city, re-establishing their stronghold at the First Infantry Division.

Earlier this week Transitional Sovereignty Council member and Armed Forces Deputy Commander Shams Eddin Kabbashi conducted a tour of the Sennar, White Nile, and Gezira states to ready preparations for the offensive that in the span of just one week encircled Wad Madani from three directions.

A military source told Mada Masr that, in the last 24 hours, the military began its advance into Wad Madani from the western, eastern, and southern axes simultaneously. The western axis proved the least resistant, the source said, as special operations forces had already neutralized the RSF’s defensive positions.

The main assault came from the eastern axis, where the military crossed into Wad Madani via Hantoub Bridge at around noon, capturing RSF positions in the village of Areebab along the road connecting Wad Madani with Um al-Qura, which had been captured on Friday.

On the southern axis, the military dismantled RSF positions in Halla Abbas, Um Sant, and the Sureiba neighborhoods. It also fought battles at the Sureiba Fallata Bridge before advancing into Wad Madani, where it took control of Wad Madani Ahlia University.

While Kabbashi arrived at the First Infantry Division headquarters in Wad Madani on Saturday afternoon, Transitional Sovereignty Council Chair, Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan was abroad, arriving in Mali on a diplomatic tour of West Africa.

Meanwhile, a source in the military-allied Sudan Shield Forces told Mada Masr that a substantial RSF unit had fled the battlefront in Wad Madani, retreating north toward Hasahisa and Kamelin, while others withdrew to Refaa and East Nile in Khartoum.

According to the Sudan Shield Forces source, some RSF commanders also left Fadasi village north of Wad Madani, but remnants of their troops remained in the area. The Sudan Shield Forces, alongside the military and other regular forces, will launch operations to liberate the remaining towns and villages in Gezira, the source said.

A senior military officer told Mada Masr that the next phase of operations involves clearing RSF presence from northern and western Gezira to prevent their forces from regrouping. The officer anticipated swift victories against retreating RSF remnants, which have established new defensive positions in Refaa and Hasahisa.

The officer also said that the military plans to advance toward Khartoum along three main routes. The first will move from eastern Gezira toward the East Nile area in Khartoum. The second will follow the main Wad Madani-Khartoum road, targeting the Bagir area bordering Khartoum.

The third and most critical axis, the officer said, will be the one tasked with clearing areas in the northwest of Gezira. Troops in this axis will converge with forces advancing along the Aawag axis, north of White Nile State. Together, these forces will push toward Geteina with the aim of taking control of the Jabal Awliya Dam Bridge in southwestern Khartoum —  the RSF’s only remaining route in and out of the city.

The RSF withdrew from Abu Quta village near Jabal Awliya, a local source told Mada Masr, after the military and mobilized forces captured on Saturday the neighboring village of Katrat al-Zakereen. The source explained that the RSF prioritized reinforcing their defenses in the Jabal Awliya area.

Abu Quta was the site of intensified RSF violations in early January, with dozens of civilians killed and injured.

The senior officer noted that the battle for southern Khartoum near Jabal Awliya will be a decisive turning point in liberating Khartoum. The movements of the Third Infantry Division on Saturday morning toward the Jaili Oil Refinery in northern Khartoum and the Engineer Corps camp south of Omdurman are expected to play a pivotal role. Securing Jabal Awliya would cut off the RSF’s supply line from western Sudan, effectively trapping their forces.

The officer also anticipated heightened activity by forces stationed in Ghabsha, targeting Um Rawaba in North Kordofan. Their operations aim to open the Kosti-Obeid road, while other maneuvers focus on breaking the RSF’s siege on Fasher, the capital of Darfur.

Security and military expert Major General Mutassem Abdel Qader told Mada Masr that Wad Madani holds strategic importance as a central hub connecting northern, southern, eastern, and western Sudan. Reclaiming the city represents a major milestone toward reclaiming all RSF-held areas, he said.

"Wad Madani carries political, economic, and social significance for Sudan. Liberating it will boost the morale of the military and its allies, acting as a driving force for continued progress," Abdel Qader said.

He added that the next phase will focus on reclaiming the remaining areas of Khartoum State, as well as regions in Darfur and Kordofan.

Abdel Qader noted that since late September, when the military crossed the Nile bridges into Khartoum and Bahri from Omdurman, followed by the October recapture of Jebel Moya in Sennar and its surrounding areas, the RSF has been under mounting pressure. The siege of the militia now spans a wide arc across the states of Gadarif, River Nile, Gezira, and Khartoum.

Describing the RSF as being in a state of gradual collapse, Abdel Qader said that their forces are increasingly searching for escape routes from Gezira and Khartoum. He predicted that this slow collapse could soon spiral into a dramatic breakdown, as evidenced by the growing number of RSF leaders and fighters abandoning battlefronts.

In response to the fall of Wad Madani, RSF Commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo “Hemedti” struck a defiant tone in a speech broadcast on the group’s official Telegram channel. War is a “back and forth,” he said, adding that his forces are in the process of regrouping, with plans to reclaim Wad Madani. 

Hemedti vowed to defeat Burhan and senior figures of the Islamist movement, promising to hold them accountable through what he called “fair trials.”

Hemedti said that the military relied on Iranian drones to secure its victory, mentioning the involvement of what he described as mercenaries affiliated with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front and the Eritrean Liberation Front, which he described as Islamist.

The road to Wad Madani

The path to Wad Madani bore no trace of the wheat that once adorned Gezira’s roadsides. Instead, it was a trail soaked in the blood of the victims of RSF violations.

Wad Madani, the capital of Gezira State, is Sudan’s second-largest city in terms of economic strength and capacity. The state comprises seven localities that contribute significantly to Sudan’s economy, including the strategic wheat crop cultivated on over one million feddan.

The state is also a hub for over 3,000 businesses, many of which relocated there since the war broke out. It hosts over 900 healthcare facilities, according to the Gezira State Health Ministry.

The capital, Wad Madani, connects Sudan’s east to its west and hosts a vast economic market. With diversified income sources spanning production sectors and manufacturing industries, the city generates employment for over a million people.

Yet, the fall of Wad Madani to the RSF marked the beginning of a blood-stained chapter for the Gezira State.

On December 18, 2023, the RSF launched a two-pronged military offensive on Wad Madani. The first attack came from the western axis, where RSF forces infiltrated through Abu Quta, advancing along the oil pipeline from White Nile State.

The second axis came from the north, targeting villages in Abu Haraz. This assault, however, was a mere diversionary tactic that destabilized the military’s ranks and forced the withdrawal of its forward defenses.

According to a ministerial source at the Gezira State Government Secretariat, over 450 villages were destroyed and evacuated, more than 17,000 civilians were killed, and over five million people were displaced since the fall of Wad Madani to the RSF.

The battle for Wad Madani 

The campaign to reclaim Wad Madani began in early December, according to a military source from the Fourth Infantry Division in Damazin, which oversees operations in Sudan’s southern axis.

The battles for Wad Madani were fought along three main axes.

Southern axis

The first axis stretched from Faw to Wad Madani, passing through the Shabarga area. It was led by Sudan Shield Forces Commander Abu Agla Keikal under the supervision of the eastern military command. This axis disrupted the RSF’s supply route coming from East Nile in Khartoum State.

Eastern axis

A military source told Mada Masr that the military, supported by the Sudan Shield Forces, which in turn were bolstered by reinforcements from Gadarif city and the Sudanese General Intelligence Service’s Operations Authority forces, secured significant victories against the RSF. This axis saw the recapture of the Um al-Qura locality on Friday, about 40 kilometers east of Wad Madani in eastern Gezira.

To the south, the military conducted extensive combing operations in the Sennar Sugar Factory area, a strategic site reclaimed on December 2 and positioned about four kilometers from Sennar city and 114 kilometers from Wad Madani.

Following the capture of Jebel Moya on October 5, Singa’s 17th Infantry Division and the Operations Authority forces advanced into Gezira State. On January 8, the military reclaimed Hajj Abdallah and Wad al-Haddad, areas situated between Gezira and Sennar states.

Western axis

The third axis extended from Managil in western Gezira to the Madina Arab area. The military advanced to encircle Wad Madani while clearing the region from Managil to Madina Arab. These operations secured the Hantoub Bridge, paving the way for the military to enter Wad Madani.