Battles continue in Sudan capital, relative calm in Babanousa

Fierce fighting between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) continued in Khartoum state yesterday. A person was killed, and three others were injured when missiles hit the northern part of El Deyoum El Shargiya in Khartoum on Friday. Relative calm was reported from Babanousa in West Kordofan.

One of the shells fell southeast of El Ghali petrol station, another one hit a house north of El Jawda Hospital, after the neighbourhood, located south of the city centre, witnessed relative calm for the past four months.

The RSF control large parts of Khartoum, especially the area between El Deyoum El Shargiya and El Sahafa and the Es Soug El Markazi and the southern neighbourhoods of the city, known as the Southern Belt*.

The Sudanese Air Force continued to attack Khartoum’s eastern neighbourhoods on Friday afternoon. Several houses in the El Ta’if neighbourhood were damaged. Four were entirely destroyed.

‘Defeated’

On Saturday, the RSF continued its attacks on the SAF General Command in central Khartoum and the Signal Corps in Khartoum North on Saturday.

Battles between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the RSF continued in Sharg El Nile (East Nile) and El Kadaro and Hattab in Khartoum North (Khartoum Bahri).

The fighting resulted in the closure of the main roads in the large Haj Yousef neighbourhood. The RSF intensified inspections of vehicles, which had a negative impact on the traffic in the area.

Both the army and the RSF claimed to have defeated the other in these areas. The SAF said that it inflicted a major defeat on “the Dagalo militia” while the RSF published pictures and video clips on social media, saying they defeated what the “El Burhan militias”.

West Kordofan

Residents of Babanousa in West Kordofan told Radio Dabanga that the RSF are still besieging the SAF 22nd Infantry Division in the town.

“Babanousa witnessed relative calm on Friday compared to the past few days,” one of them said. “There were only a light exchanges of artillery shelling.”

* Khartoum’s Southern Belt is part of the periphery of the capital inhabited by people earlier displaced by wars in Darfur, Kordofan, and Blue Nile region and South Sudanese refugees, and by impoverished farmers from various parts of the country who lost their lands to banks as they could not pay their debts.