Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Reuters
Sudan’s army launched artillery and air strikes in Sudan’s capital on Thursday in its biggest operation to regain ground there since early in its 17-month war with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), witnesses and military sources said.
The push by the army, which lost control of most of the capital at the start of the conflict, came ahead of an address by its commander, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Plumes of smoke rise during clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum, Sudan, on 26th September, 2024. PICTURE: Reuters/Stringer
In his address to the UN General Assembly, Burhan said he supported efforts to bring an end to a devastating war in his country as long as they brought an end to the “occupation” of territory by the RSF and that countries in the region were providing funding, weapons and mercenaries to the RSF, though he did not name any country.
“We in Sudan’s government are ready to engage in any initiative that ends this war whenever this initiative supports national ownership of the solution and ends the occupation by the rebel militia of various regions,” Burhan said, in reference to the RSF.
He said the army-backed government would not accept participation of any country that supported the RSF in a peace process, and that any such process must include the RSF laying down its arms and a comprehensive political settlement.
“We are proceeding to defeat and dislodge these aggressors, no matter how much assistance and support they find,” he said.
The army spurned US-led talks in Switzerland last month aimed at improving humanitarian access and charting a course towards a ceasefire in Sudan.
The army objected to the involvement in the talks of the United Arab Emirates, which has provided material support to the RSF, according to reports that UN experts say are credible.
The UAE has denied sending weapons to the RSF.
In his address on Thursday, Burhan also said the army-backed government was doing what it could to make sure those in need received relief.
Aid workers have said that the government and the army have often held up humanitarian aid, while the RSF has looted aid supplies.
Sudan’s General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan salutes as he listens to the national anthem after landing in the military airport of Port Sudan on his first trip away following the crisis in Sudan’s capital Khartoum since an internal conflict broke out, in the city of Port Sudan, Sudan, on 27th August, 2023. PICTURE: Reuters/Ibrahim Mohammed Ishak/File photo.
Following his speech, the head of the RSF said the faction remained ready to implement a nationwide ceasefire in its war with the army and allow for the delivery of humanitarian aid.
General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, commonly known as Hemedti, made the comments in a recorded message addressed to the United Nations General Assembly.
Meanwhile, in Sudan witnesses reported heavy bombardments and clashes as army troops tried to cross bridges across the Nile connecting the three adjoining cities that make up the greater capital, Khartoum, Omdurman and Bahri.
“The army is carrying out heavy artillery strikes and air strikes on Halfaya and Shambat,” Ahmed Abdalla, a 48-year-old resident told Reuters by phone, referring to areas of Bahri close to the river. “The sounds of explosions are very loud.”
Video footage showed black smoke rising above the capital and the booms of the battle could be heard in the background.
Army sources said their forces had crossed bridges in Khartoum and Bahri. The RSF told Reuters it had thwarted the army’s attempt to cross two bridges to Khartoum. Reuters could not independently confirm the accounts.
Though the army retook some ground in Omdurman early this year, it depends mostly on artillery and airstrikes and has been unable to dislodge nimble RSF ground forces embedded in other parts of the capital.
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Darfur fears
The RSF has also continued to make advances in other parts of Sudan in recent months in a conflict that has caused a vast humanitarian crisis, displacing more than 10 million people and driving parts of the country to extreme hunger or famine.
Diplomatic efforts by the United States and other powers have faltered, with the army refusing to attend talks last month in Switzerland.
This month the battle for control of al-Fashir, the capital of North Darfur state in the west of Sudan, has also intensified as the RSF has tried to advance from positions surrounding the city against the army and allied former rebel groups.
Al-Fashir is the last army holdout across the Darfur region, where the UN and rights groups say the RSF and allies have led ethnically-targetted attacks and the humanitarian situation is particularly critical. The RSF has denied being behind the violence.
The UN human rights office said on Thursday it had documented summary executions, sexual and gender-based violence, and abductions of women and young men in al-Fashir, in addition to rising civilian casualties.
“From bitter past experience, if al-Fashir falls, there is a high risk of ethnically targeted violations and abuses, including summary executions and sexual violence, by the RSF and allied militia,” UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk said.
The UN Security Council and secretary-general have also demanded an end to the siege of al-Fashir, home to more than 1.8 million residents and displaced people.
The war began when tensions between the RSF and the army, who had been jostling for position ahead of an internationally-backed transition to civilian rule, erupted into open conflict.
The army and the RSF had previously shared power after staging a coup in 2021, two years after veteran autocrat Omar al-Bashir was toppled in a popular uprising.
– Additional reporting by EMMA FARGE
