Sudanese army drives RSF from central Khartoum, say witnesses

The Sudanese army has driven the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces from most of the capital city, Khartoum, residents said on Wednesday, as the army chief toured the presidential palace and airport, marking a major military gain, although the wider war looks far from over, Reuters has reported.

The residents said that RSF fighters had withdrawn and the army had deployed across the city centre after almost two years of devastating civil war that is splitting the massive country into rival zones of control with the RSF still deeply embedded in western Sudan.

Army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan flew into Khartoum Airport, located in the centre of the capital, and toured the presidential palace, said his ruling council. It was a clear demonstration of the army’s control over the area. The army said that Al-Burhan’s flight was the first to land at the airport since the outbreak of war in April 2023.

It also said that it had gained control of a major RSF base south of the capital that it said was the paramilitary group’s last major stronghold in Khartoum state. Drone footage was released showing scores of people walking across a dam that the army said were RSF forces retreating across the Nile. Reuters was not able to confirm that the footage showed RSF forces and the RSF did not immediately comment on Wednesday’s military developments.

Recent army gains in central Sudan, retaking districts of the capital and other territory, come as the RSF has consolidated its control in the west, hardening battle lines and threatening to move the country towards a de facto partition.

The war erupted as the country was attempting a democratic transition. It has caused what the UN calls the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, with famine in several areas as well as outbreaks of cholera. With 12.5 million people driven from their homes, many have sought refuge in neighbouring countries.

READ: Scores killed in army air strike on North Darfur market in Sudan, locals say

The army and RSF had at one point been in a fragile partnership, jointly staging a coup in 2021 that derailed the transition from the Islamist rule of Omar Al-Bashir, a long-time autocrat who was ousted in 2019. They had also fought on the same side for years in the western state of Darfur under Bashir’s government.

The RSF ls led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti. The paramilitary group developed from Darfur’s Janjaweed militias and Bashir developed it as a counterweight to the army, led by career officer Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan.

After they seized power together in 2021, the two sides clashed over an internationally-backed plan aimed at launching a new transition with civilian parties that would require them both to cede powers. Major points of dispute included a timetable for the RSF to integrate into the regular armed forces; the chain of command between army and RSF leaders; and the question of civilian oversight.

When fighting broke out, Sudan’s army had better resources including air power. However, the RSF was more deeply embedded in districts across Khartoum and was able to hold much of the capital in an initial, devastating burst of warfare. The RSF also made rapid advances to gain control of its main stronghold of Darfur and over El Gezira state, south of Khartoum, a big farming area.

With the army now re-establishing its position in the capital, it is making a new push to cement its control in the centre of Sudan.

READ: RSF squeezing relief supplies as famine spreads in Sudan, say aid workers