The Sudanese army has launched a major offensive against the powerful paramilitary group it is fighting in the country’s civil war, targeting areas of the capital it lost at the beginning of the conflict.
In Thursday dawn strikes, government forces bombed the bases of the Rapid Support Forces in the capital, Khartoum, and in Bahri, to the north of it.
Sudan has been witnessing war since the army and the Rapid Support Forces began a fierce power struggle in April 2023, leading to what the United Nations has described as one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world.
Up to 150,000 people were killed in the conflict, while more than 10 million people, about a fifth of the population, were forced from their homes.
The military escalation comes despite US-led efforts to broker a ceasefire, which is being discussed on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly this week.
Residents in the capital said that artillery shelling and air strikes began during the night and intensified at dawn.
Numerous accounts stated that the army crossed the main bridges over the Nile River, which separated government-controlled areas in Omdurman from areas controlled by the Rapid Support Forces.
The Rapid Support Forces claimed to have repelled the attempts, but there were reports of sounds of clashes and plumes of smoke coming from locations in central Khartoum.
Since the beginning of the war, paramilitary forces have controlled almost the entire capital.
Thursday’s progress appeared to be the government’s first major push in months to reclaim some territory.
Speaking later to the UN General Assembly in New York, Sudan’s de facto leader, Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, said he supported efforts to end the war, but on the condition that the RSF’s occupation of Sudanese territory be ended. .
He wondered why the international community did not intervene to help confront the group, and accused the countries of the region of “providing financing and mercenaries for their political and economic interest, in flagrant violation of international law and will.”
The United Nations called for “immediate” measures to protect civilians and end the fighting.
It says that since the beginning of September, it has documented the killing of at least 78 civilians as a result of artillery shelling and air strikes in the greater Khartoum area.
Most of the worst and most intense fighting occurred in densely populated areas. The two sides exchanged accusations of indiscriminately bombing civilian areas.
“Ongoing hostilities across the country have brought misery to millions of civilians, leading to the world’s fastest growing displacement crisis.” The United Nations warned on Wednesday.
The report indicated that half of the ten million people who fled their homes are children, while at least two million sought protection in neighboring countries.
It also described Sudan as “the largest hunger crisis in the world.” There are fears of widespread famine as people have been unable to grow any crops.
There were also warnings of the possibility of genocide against non-Arabs in the western Darfur region.
The health ministry said on Wednesday that a cholera epidemic is also spreading across the country, with more than 430 people dying from the easily treatable disease in the past month.
But access to treatment in these affected areas is extremely complicated due to the conflict.
Additional reporting by Natasha Botti
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