Sudan’s brutal civil war appears to be approaching a decisive phase as the country’s military reported sweeping gains in the symbolic battle for the capital.
As a ruinous conflict, often characterised by bloody stalemate, nears its two-year anniversary, the Sudanese armed forces (SAF) declared a string of rapid advances across the country against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Most notable were developments in the capital, Khartoum, where military forces are closing in on the RSF-held Republican Palace.
To the south, separate SAF units made advances alongside the Blue Nile, heading towards a strategic entry point to Khartoum at such speed that it prompted speculation the RSF might withdraw from the city.
Analysts say an RSF retreat would constitute a profound recalibration of the conflict. Khartoum has largely been in the control of the RSF since the opening salvoes of the war in April 2023.
Battlefield updates indicate a shift in momentum, with one army source confirming its troops were “close to reaching the centre of Khartoum”.
Babikir Elamin, the head of mission at the Sudanese embassy in London, said he expected the SAF to recapture the entire capital in a matter of days.
He said: “There are just pockets [of RSF] in Khartoum, some in an area we call the eastern Nile. It will be a matter of days before Khartoum is cleared of RSF.”
In nearby Omdurman, Sudan’s second largest city, home to about 2.4 million people, clashes have escalated including an incident last weekend in which the RSF killed at least 54 civilians in an attack on a market.
Elamin said: “Omdurman is almost free of RSF and Khartoum North is free of RSF.”
The war between the army and RSF has been calamitous for Africa’s third largest country, killing tens of thousands of people, forcing 12 million to leave their homes and pushing regions into famine. In Khartoum alone, at least 3.6 million residents have fled the violence.
The battlefield developments come days after the Sudanese military broke an RSF siege of its headquarters in Khartoum, allowing the army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan to visit for the first time since the war began.
That in turn followed the SAF recently recapturing the strategically vital city of Wad Madani, the capital of Sudan’s breadbasket, about 110 miles (180km) south of Khartoum.
The advances potentially set up the prospect of Darfur, the sprawling region of western Sudan, providing the backdrop for the final battles of the war. Intelligence indicates that many of RSF fighters have already retreated to the western Darfur region, where the paramilitary group hails from.
Except for the North Darfur capital, El Fasher, which is under sustained attack and siege by the RSF, the group controls the region.
Last week, teams from Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Darfur and Khartoum said they were coping with “mass influxes of war-wounded patients”, confirmation of the escalating violence in both areas.
Experts say the dire humanitarian situation in Sudan will be amplified by Donald Trump’s intention to close the US’s lead international aid agency, USAid.
