Sudanese army close to retaking capital after key gains in Bahri

Sudan's army has recaptured two key districts in Bahri, building on a string of gains against the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group inthe past month, military sources in the Sudanese capital told The National.

The army entered El Ezba and Dardouk Market on Thursday, the sources said, an advance that pushed the RSF farther from the city centre. Soldiers posted footage on social media of themselves celebrating after the victory.

The two areas were among a handful in Bahri where the RSF had remained operational. Their capture puts the army almost entirely in control of the city, which together with Omdurman and Khartoum comprise the greater capital region.

Securing the districts will enable the army to gain a foothold in Khartoum’s East Nile district and subsequently connect its forces in the capital to those pushing north from Al Gezira state, south of the capital. The agriculture-rich state is connected to the capital by the Blue Nile flowing from the city of Wad Medani, the state capital that was retaken by the army this month.

The army launched a campaign to wrest the capital from the RSF in September. Army chief Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan, said on Wednesday that the third phase of the campaign had begun and vowed to intensify offensives in the coming weeks.

The military sources said the army on Thursday also recaptured the city of Umm Ruwaba in North Kordofan state, about 350km south-west of Khartoum.

This advance “brings the army closer to liberating the city [of] El Obeid from the RSF, which would effectively cut off the militia from routes it uses to supply its forces in the south of Suan and in Omdurman”, said Sudanese political analyst Hatim Dirdiri.

Despite the army’s victories in the capital, the RSF remains in control of some parts of Khartoum, including the presidential palace and the airport. The Nile-side palace is about 2km from the armed forces headquarters where troops recently ended an RSF siege.

“It is only a matter of time before the RSF is pushed out of these areas entirely, clearing the way for the army’s takeover of the presidential palace," Mr Dirdiri added. "That would be an important symbolic win for Al Burhan, who is clearly very happy with the army’s recent gains against the militia."

The RSF had controlled access to the army’s key bases in the capital since early in the war that began in April 2023. Regaining control of the armed forces headquarters in Khartoum and the Signals Corps base in Bahri have enabled the army to better co-ordinate its attacks on the RSF, Mr Dirdiri said.

The victories were made possible by the army's ability to unite its previously isolated forces in Omdurman, Bahri and Khartoum, which are separated by branches of the Nile. This has made its recent advances “much faster than earlier operations, such as the one to liberate [parts of] Omdurman last year”, Mr Dirdiri said.

“The RSF had previously been able to prevent the army from connecting its different field units by controlling a number of strategic bridges and by stationing snipers in several high-rise buildings around central Khartoum,” he added.

“The army first had to employ attrition tactics to lift the RSF’s hold over its bases. It then used controlled offensives on RSF-held areas, after which it would retreat.”

Speaking from the newly recaptured General Command of the Armed Forces on Sunday, Gen Al Burhan vowed to keep fighting until “every inch desecrated by the militia” is retaken.

The army last week said it expelled RSF forces from Al Jeely oil refinery, north of Khartoum. Fires broke out during the fighting, which the army blamed on the RSF.

The civil war in Sudan has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and the displacement of more than 11 million people, the UN says.

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