Air strikes and shelling shook Khartoum on Thursday as the army launched attacks on paramilitary positions throughout the Sudanese capital, according to witnesses and a military source who spoke to AFP.
The clashes commenced at dawn, as reported by several residents, marking what seemed to be the army's first significant offensive in months to reclaim areas of the capital held by the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
This development occurred on the same day that Sudan's de facto leader, army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, addressed the UN General Assembly in New York. The day before his speech, UN chief Antonio Guterres expressed concern to Burhan about the escalation of conflict in Sudan, as stated by the United Nations.
During his address, Burhan called for the 'rebel militia to be designated as a terrorist group' and accused the RSF of hindering peace efforts. On the ground, Sudanese army forces were reportedly 'engaged in intense combat against the rebel militia within Khartoum,' according to a military source who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity.
The source revealed that army forces had crossed three crucial bridges over the Nile, which had previously separated parts of the capital controlled by the army from those under RSF control. Since the war erupted in April 2023 between Burhan's Sudanese Armed Forces and his former deputy, RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, the paramilitaries had largely pushed the army out of Khartoum.
In February, the army's last major offensive saw it regain much of Omdurman, the capital's twin city across the Nile and part of greater Khartoum. The government loyal to the army is based in Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast, where the army maintains control. Meanwhile, the RSF has taken control of nearly all of the vast western region of Darfur, ravaged the agricultural heartland of central Sudan, and advanced into the army-controlled southeast.
In his UN address, Burhan accused 'countries in the region' of providing the RSF with 'financial support, mercenaries, and political cover.' Although he did not name these countries, his government has frequently accused the United Arab Emirates of supplying arms to the paramilitaries from neighboring Chad, in violation of the arms embargo on Darfur. United Nations experts found these accusations 'credible' last year, and diplomats say the United States has privately pressured the UAE over its support for the RSF.
In Omdurman, a witness reported that the sound of bombs, which 'startled them from sleep' at dawn, persisted throughout the day. Several residents of Omdurman described 'heavy artillery shelling' hitting residential buildings while military warplanes flew overhead. 'In our neighborhood alone, three people have been killed today,' one Omdurman resident told AFP, requesting anonymity out of fear of retaliation.
Due to an effective communications blackout and a crippled healthcare system, it was impossible to verify any casualty toll. Since the war began, much of the worst fighting has occurred in densely populated areas, with both sides accused of war crimes, including indiscriminate bombing of residential areas. The conflict has already claimed tens of thousands of lives, with the World Health Organization reporting at least 20,000 deaths, though some estimates suggest up to 150,000.
The war has also created the world's largest displacement crisis, according to the UN. More than 10 million people—about a fifth of Sudan's population—have been forced from their homes, according to UN figures. Famine has been declared in Zamzam refugee camp in Darfur near the city of El-Fasher, where the RSF launched a large-scale offensive last weekend after months of siege. El-Fasher is the only one of five state capitals in Darfur not yet under RSF control.
In his meeting with Burhan, Guterres warned that the war 'risks a regional spillover,' according to the UN. 'People in Sudan have endured 17 months of hell, and the suffering continues to grow,' said top UN relief official Joyce Msuya.
