Sudan army further advances in Khartoum Bahri

The Sudanese army announced yesterday morning that its soldiers managed to enter the Teiba El Ahameda neighbourhood in eastern Khartoum North (Khartoum Bahri), noting the withdrawal of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to neighbouring Kafouri. The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) is expected to begin operations in Khartoum in the coming days, seeking to control Nile Street, which has been witnessing continuous clashes without breaking through for months.

The advance to eastern Khartoum Bahri comes after the army tightened its control over large parts of the southern, northern and western parts of the city.

Military sources said that the SAF yesterday also took control of the “remaining pockets” in southern Khartoum Bahri: the El Amlak and El Danagla neighbourhoods and the area of the El Diyar El Gatariya Company.  

The army soldiers also managed to seize control of the northern entrance to the Mek Nimir bridge, connected Khartoum north with Khartoum.

Basha Tabig, advisor to the RSF commander, however, said in a message on X yesterday that the RSF achieved “a crushing victory” over the SAF and its ally, the Islamist El Baraa bin Malik Brigade, in Khartoum Bahri.

The RSF was able to repel an attack on El Izba and the army withdrew to the Samarab area, he stated.

The RSF still controls large parts of Kober and Kafouri, as well as El Haj Yousef and Sharg El Nil (East Nile) in Khartoum Bahri, and most areas of Khartoum city.

Progress

The SAF yesterday denied reports that it had taken control of the reportedly severely damaged Republican Palace in central Khartoum.

After the army regained control of its General Command in central Khartoum last week, Commander-in-Chief Abdelfattah El Burhan visited the place earlier this week and vowed that their victory over the RSF in Khartoum would start from the General Command.

“This development is a turning point in the ongoing civil war, ending the threat to the SAF headquarters and positioning SAF for a new push to recapture the capital. Khartoum and Bahri are bracing for more fighting as SAF reinforcements pour into southern Bahri and central Khartoum for the first time since 2023,” Sudan War Monitor commented on Saturday.

“The RSF remain in control of most of the capital Khartoum, but it will now be harder for them to defend it as the SAF can revive fighting on a frontline around General Command that had largely been quiet.”

The army is expected to begin operations in Khartoum in the coming days, seeking to control the Nile Street (along the Blue Nile) toward the area of El Mogran (where the White Nile and the Blue Nile meet) area, which has been witnessing continuous clashes without breaking through for months.

Offensives

The army launched a large offensive on central (old) Omdurman in the end of December 2023 and succeeded to take control of the National Radio and Television Corporation in old Omdurman in March last year. The “first major offensive success of the war” also broke the RSF siege of the SAF Corps of Engineers in El Mohandisin.

In September last year, the SAF managed to enter western Khartoum Bahri and the northwestern part of Khartoum. In the last couple of weeks, the army tightened its control over large parts of the southern, northern and western parts of the city.

This week, the army was again able to make significant progress on the ground, lifting the RSF siege on the Signal Corps and linking SAF bases in northern Khartoum Bahri with those in the southern parts of the city.

The SAF also managed to regain control of the El Jeili refinery north of Khartoum.

In southern Omdurman, the resistance committees of El Fitihab announced the army’s control of large parts of the neighbourhood.

The SAF reportedly also entered Ombadda Block 26, called Ras El Shaytan (Devil’s Head), in western Omdurman this week.