Ongoing major battle of the Sudanese civil war
The battle of Khartoum is an ongoing major battle for control of Khartoum, the capital city of Sudan, with fighting in and around the city between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and the Sudanese Armed Forces. The battle began on 15 April 2023, after the RSF captured Khartoum International Airport, several military bases, and the presidential palace, starting an escalating series of clashes.
It was initially reported that tensions rose in Khartoum and Merowe on 13 April 2023, when RSF forces mobilized. In response, the SAF issued a statement saying "There is a possibility of a confrontation between SAF and RSF forces" introducing fears of a wider conflict. In the evening of 14 April 2023, RSF forces assaulted the Khartoum International Airport, a military base, and the presidential palace. The fighting spread from Khartoum into its suburbs, primarily Omdurman, where its bridge on the White Nile was largely captured by the RSF forces.
By 28 April 2023, there had been more than 500 civilian deaths in Khartoum, including an Indian citizen, an Iraqi citizen, an Egyptian civilian, and a Sudanese-American man travelling with his family.
The battle has been marked by gruelling urban warfare.
Background.
Khartoum is the capital and largest city in Sudan, with over a million residents. The Khartoum metropolitan area is made up of three main areas; Omdurman to the northwest, on the west bank of the Nile, with Omdurman being the second most populous city in Sudan, and Khartoum North, colloquially known as Bahri, located north of Khartoum itself. South of Khartoum is the town of Jebel Awliya, where supplies to and from the rest of Sudan, predominantly Port Sudan and El-Obeid, go through. To the north of Omdurman is the town of Karari, where supplies to and from northern Sudan and Egypt go through.
Because of Khartoum's central location, the city has often been spared in attacks by rebel groups throughout the War in Darfur, with the exception of the 2008 Omdurman attack, in which the Justice and Equality Movement attempted to overthrow the Omar al-Bashir regime. The attack was the first and only notable attack in Khartoum State throughout the war, which ended in 2020.
Many Janjaweed fighters, a pro-Bashir militia composed predominantly of Arabs and notorious for their ethnic cleansings of non-Arab civilians in Darfur, joined the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces following the Juba Peace Agreement that ended the War in Darfur in 2020. The RSF is led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as Hemedti.
In 2019, popular uprisings against the Bashir regime began across Sudan, especially in Khartoum. The Sudanese government, aided by the RSF, shot at protesters, killing dozens of people over a period of several months in Khartoum and Omdurman. The deadliest incident was in Khartoum on 3 June, where Sudanese soldiers and the RSF killed over a hundred civilians protesting the regime. Bashir was eventually overthrown, and a transitional civilian-military administration was put in place with Abdalla Hamdok leading the civilian half and Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.
In 2021, Burhan, along with Hemedti, overthrew the civilian administration in the 2021 Sudanese coup d'état, cementing military rule over Sudan. By 2023, tensions between Burhan and Hemedti increased after Burhan's pressure to integrate the RSF into the Sudanese military, whereas Hemedti preferred autonomy for the RSF. On 13 April, rumors spread of RSF fighters mobilizing at bases in Khartoum and Merowe. By 14 April, both groups had tens of thousands of fighters in Khartoum each. These tensions came to a head on 15 April 2023, after RSF fighters attacked civilian and military sites across the nation, including Khartoum and Omdurman.
Outbreak of war.
Initial attacks on Khartoum Airport and Omdurman, 15–17 April.
In the early hours of the morning of 15 April 2023, the Rapid Support Forces initiated a series of assaults on key installations in Khartoum, including the Khartoum International Airport. During the attack on the airport, the RSF reportedly fired on a Saudia airliner which was arriving at the airport, but no casualties were reported among the aircraft's passengers and crew. The RSF also captured the presidential palace, the residence of former Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir, and attacked a military base. In the fighting at the Khartoum airport, two civilians were killed. Hemedti claimed that the RSF controlled most of the city's government buildings, but this was disputed by Burhan.
RSF fighters stormed Burhan's residence as well on 15 April, attempting to assassinate him. Burhan and his bodyguards fought back, with a bodyguard later stating that Burhan himself picked up an AK-47 and shot at the RSF. While Burhan escaped the fighting safely, over 30 of his bodyguards were killed in the clashes.
The same day, several aerial attacks towards the RSF targets were conducted by the SAF. Users on Facebook Live and Twitter documented the Sudanese Air Force flying above the city, and striking the RSF targets. On 16 April, the Armed Forces claimed to have re-captured the presidential palace, a claim disputed by the RSF who posted a video on Twitter of their continued presence in the palace amidst ongoing fighting. The RSF also disputed claims that several other buildings had been captured by the Armed Forces. The Interior Ministry building was also said to have come under RSF occupation.
On 17 April, students from Comboni College of Science &amp; Technology were evacuated after fighting reached the campus. That same day, the Forces of Freedom and Change stated that negotiations were no longer going on between Hemedti and Burhan. In a statement, Hemedti claimed to be fighting against Islamists, and championing himself as a leader of democracy. Students at other university students were forced to flee through gates following attacks and clashes at their campuses. At the University of Khartoum, one student, Khalid al-Tageea, was buried on campus after shelling hit and killed him, and it was impossible to transport his body.
At the Khartoum Teaching Hospital, one of the largest in the city, the building was besieged by the RSF. It shut down completely on 17 April along with the sister Al-Shaab Teaching Hospital due to RSF shelling hitting and damaging the building. In al-Moallem hospital, residents and staff were forced to flee following RSF attacks on the hospital. Staff alleged the shelling was deliberate. In Bahri's International Hospital, the director took to social media for fuel donations as power had been cut to the neighborhood. By 18 April 39 of the 59 hospitals in Khartoum were out of service, and the remaining twenty were in Omdurman.
On 16 April, General Yassir El Atta announced that all RSF camps in Khartoum were under SAF control, along with Port Sudan, El-Gadarif, and Kosti. This could not be independently verified at the time. However, new RSF camps popped up, such as in the All Saint's Cathedral on 17 April.
International incidents and reactions.
On 17 April, the Sudanese government announced the closure of Sudan's airspace, initially limited solely to that of Khartoum. Aidan O'Hara, the European Union ambassador to Sudan, was assaulted at his Khartoum home where he had been sheltering. The EU declared the attack, "a gross violation of the 1961 Vienna Convention." The same day, a US diplomatic convoy was fired upon in an incident labeled as "reckless" by Antony Blinken. General al-Burhan declared the Rapid Support Forces a "rebel group", and ordered their nationwide dissolution. On 17 April, South Sudanese president Salva Kiir cancelled a planned trip to Khartoum due to the fighting. RSF forces also besieged and shelled a large hospital in the city. The World Food Programme also halted operations in the country.
Omdurman.
A doctor in Omdurman stated the situation was hectic and everyone was seeking shelter. RSF forces laid siege to the Sudanese Broadcasting Corporation headquarters in the city, and began shelling places where SUNA broadcasts. Shelling continued throughout Omdurman on 16 April. Many airstrikes came from the Sudanese Air Force against RSF bases across the city. That same day, RSF forces managed to enter and capture the SUNA building, and began airing pro-RSF content. The RSF broadcasts ended on 17 April as clashes continued around the area. Despite pro-SAF media claiming that Sudanese forces recaptured the headquarters, the RSF posted a video confirming their continued control over it.
In other areas of Omdurman, RSF forces claimed to have vacated their base in the city. Videos from the city showed a barracks with dozens of wounded RSF fighters sprawled out across a makeshift barracks. Clashes also broke out on both ends of the Halfaya Bridge, one of several that connects Omdurman to Khartoum. In the battles on Halfaya bridge, a hospital on Khartoum's side of the river was shelled. Locals stated that there were so many dead near the bridge, it was impossible to recover their bodies. The safest areas of Omdurman were allegedly the working-class neighborhoods.
By 17 April, at least four people had been killed in clashes in Omdurman, according to the Sudanese Doctor's Union. Of the twenty hospitals in Khartoum and Omdurman, 12 were forced to close by 18 April due to indiscriminate shelling targeting the hospitals. That same day, Shams El Din Kabbashi, a member of the Sudanese sovereignty council, announced a 24-hour ceasefire between the SAF and RSF across the country. Locals in the Sabrin area of Omdurman stated many RSF fighters lay dead in the streets.
First ceasefire (18–20 April).
A ceasefire was announced on 18 April, but was ineffective. While it was set to go in effect at 6pm, fighting was still ongoing around the military headquarters, and the Republican Palace. Residents of Bahri also stated that fighting was occurring in their neighborhood, and wounded civilians were trapped in their homes. Some residents were out and about, and humanitarian agencies stated it was still impossible to provide aid. The Khartoum State Ministry of Health stated that most medical facilities were on the verge of shutting down due to the crisis. Satellite images on 19 April showed several key sites in the Khartoum area shelled or destroyed. These included the Security Service of Sudan, the Ministry of Education and Scientific Research, the General Command, Kobar Bridge, and several other government offices. On 18 April, the Sudanese Army also stated that they dissolved the RSF, although this was in name only. In Khartoum in particular, SUNA stated that the SAF was attempting to minimize civilian losses to lives and property from SAF airstrikes.
On 19 April, battles continued in Khartoum near the army headquarters, the presidential palace, and the airport, with heavy weapons used. The Sudanese Army said it was attacked by the RSF at its general command headquarters, but had repelled the attack, inflicting "heavy losses" on the RSF, which had reportedly abandoned 24 vehicles. The SAF called on RSF forces to surrender with the promise of pardons. Observers determined that the army was controlling access to Khartoum and trying to cut off supply routes to RSF fighters. Witnesses said the army reinforcements were brought in from near the eastern border with Ethiopia. When another ceasefire was announced to begin at 18:00 local time, fighting was reported to have mostly subsided around Khartoum airport, but continued to be intense around the Presidential Palace, army headquarters, and in the Jabra neighborhood in western Khartoum, where houses belonging to Hemedti and his family were located. Fighting was reported to have continued several minutes after the start of the ceasefire.
A Reuters reporter in Khartoum, stated that by 20 April, the main market in Bahri was burnt to the ground, and many buildings in the center of the city were destroyed or heavily damaged. Checkpoints by RSF fighters on blocks and the middle of city streets were frequent in Bahri and Omdurman, and civilian life was non-existent. Around the Halfaya Bridge, diplomats were evacuating the area, and buses taking residents to Egypt were stopping. These buses usually cost US$50, and increase on demand. Many residents fled to Port Sudan, Wad el-Madani, Chad, or Egypt. Around this time, many diplomats were evacuating Khartoum. Greek and Cypriot personnel sheltered in a Greek Orthodox cathedral in Khartoum, and Egyptian, Dutch, and Saudi foreign ministries all sent planes to airlift their nationals.
The RSF stated it repelled an SAF attack on positions in Omdurman on the morning of 20 April, claiming to have shot down two helicopters in the process. Fighting was also reported at the Sudanese Broadcasting Corporation headquarters in the city. RSF reinforcements approaching Khartoum from the west