In recent developments in Sudan, the military has reinforced its control over Khartoum by seizing critical government facilities. This follows their successful recapture of the Republican Palace from the feared paramilitary group, Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Speaking for the Sudanese military, Brig. Gen. Nabil Abdullah announced that soldiers had successfully ousted RSF members from key locations such as the National Intelligence Service and the prominent Corinthia Hotel in the heart of the capital.
Additionally, the army regained command of the Central Bank of Sudan’s headquarters and various other strategic governmental and educational sites. Reportedly, the operation resulted in the death of numerous RSF fighters as they tried to escape the capital.
There has been no immediate feedback from the RSF regarding these events.
However, this military success was shadowed by reports from a pro-democracy activist group claiming that RSF combatants murdered at least 45 residents in the Darfur city of al-Maliha in western Sudan.
On the previous day, reclaiming the Republican Palace marked a symbolic triumph for the military in their prolonged struggle against the RSF. Unfortunately, an RSF drone attack on the palace led to the deaths of two journalists, a state TV driver, and a military media officer, Lt. Col. Hassan Ibrahim, according to the military’s reports.
Volker Perthes, a former UN envoy on Sudan, stated that this military progress might pressure the RSF to retreat back to their regional stronghold in Darfur. Perthes remarked that significant achievements in Khartoum by the army highlight both military and political momentum, predicting the RSF will soon retract from central territories. However, he also cautioned that this does not signify the conflict’s conclusion as the RSF still controls areas in the Darfur region. Perthes anticipates an insurgent warfare approach ensuing between the RSF located in Darfur and the capital-based military government.
Reflecting on past conflicts in early 2000s Sudan, when rebel factions clashed with what was then Omar al-Bashir’s government, Perthes suggested future conflicts might resemble these historical tensions.
At the conflict’s inception in April 2023, the RSF swiftly commandeered various official and military structures in Khartoum, including the Republican Palace and the state’s primary television facilities. They also requisitioned civilian homes for strategic military use against government forces.
In the recent months, momentum shifted in favor of the military, enabling them to reclaim significant portions of Khartoum and its neighboring districts, including Omdurman and Khartoum North, as well as additional cities. By late January, they had lifted the RSF siege of the General Command, paving the path for a later recapture of the Republican Palace.
The military’s upcoming strategic goals seemingly include retaking Khartoum International Airport, a mere 2.5 kilometers away from the palace, which the RSF has held since the war’s early days. Video clips circulating on social media appear to show military personnel advancing along routes toward the airport.
In another tragic narrative, the RSF was implicated in causing at least 45 deaths in al-Maliha city, Darfur. The pro-democratic Resistance Committees, composed of youth organizations scrutinizing the war, indicated RSF forces infiltrated the city and executed aggressive attacks beginning Thursday. The casualties, according to a partial list from the group, included at least a dozen women.
Situated strategically near Chad and Libya’s borders, al-Maliha lies about 200 kilometers north of el-Fasher, a city still under Sudanese military control despite relentless RSF attacks.
The ongoing war has devastated Khartoum alongside other metropolitan areas, claiming over 28,000 lives, forcing countless people from their housing, and plummeting some into severe famine conditions necessitating desperate measures for survival. Though the official death counts could be a conservative estimate.
The hostilities have also been marked by grievous humanitarian crimes such as mass rapes and ethnically motivated slaughters, which international rights organizations and the United Nations have labeled as war crimes, especially focused within the Darfur region.
