Yesterday was a day of terrible violence in Sudan’s capital, and many men lost their lives in Khartoum, Omdurman and, especially, Khartoum Bahri.
The army sent a large force in technicals south from Hattab Camp, escorting supply vehicles and troop carriers, with the apparent intention of reinforcing the Signal Corps and General Command.
They met resistance in the agricultural areas south of Al Samrab and along Al Ingaz Street, one of the city’s main north-south corridors. Judging by videos of the aftermath of the scene, the column of vehicles came to a halt under withering fire from the front and the sides. Al Ingaz street was left littered with bodies and abandoned vehicles. SAF soldiers, unable to continue their advance, sought cover in a drainage ditch running parallel to the road, where they were eventually killed or captured.
Social media accounts and private chat groups affiliated with the Rapid Support Forces militia circulated many videos of the dead, wounded, and prisoners. These videos are generally too graphic to share, but we include one of the less graphic ones below that gives a good overview of the scene.
Viewer discretion advised: This video contains images of graphic violence near the end.
The commander of the SAF column, who was wounded and captured, was questioned by the RSF afterwards in a video published online. The commander with the rank of brigadier general stated that their forces had moved from Hattab Camp, in the northeast of the city of Bahri, and were on their way to the Signal Corps in Bahri, and from there to the General Command of the Army in Khartoum.
In connection with the fighting, fires erupted in two areas of the Khartoum North Light Industrial Area, either because of bombings, shelling, or damage from ground fighting. The squares on the NASA FIRMS satellite image below indicate the region in which these fires broke out, though not the precise locations. Columns of smoke from the same areas are seen in videos filmed along Al Ingaz Street.
RSF fighters after the battle nicknamed it “Burhan dagash” (برهان دقس), which is difficult to translate but loosely means “Burhan was fooled” or “Burhan made a mistake.” The name clearly refers to what the RSF see as an ill-conceived operation. If the SAF are unable to resupply and reinforce Signal Corps and General Command, then these bases are bound to fall eventually. The two bases are connected to each other but are otherwise besieged.
Simultaneously with the attack from Hattab Camp, the army launched an attack across Halfaya Bridge. Local residents cited by Reuters reported fighting from the morning. A video filmed from the Omdurman side shows SAF infantry advancing across the bridge, followed by technicals. Another video shows a traffic jam of returning vehicles. Analysis of the shadows in these videos shows the first was filmed about 07:30 and the second at about 9:00, indicating that SAF only spent about 1.5-2 hours on the other side of the bridge at most. The short duration of this attack suggests that it was possibly just a diversionary attack to support the main operation toward Signal Corps, rather than a serious attempt to establish a bridgehead in Bahri.
The above video clip shows the force returning to Omdurman after the attack, and the below map gives an indication of the overall situation. Note the red pin, which marks an onramp to the bridge that RSF have used as a shelter to protect themselves from mortars, sniper fire, and airstrikes. They filmed a video with a captured SAF vehicle at this location at about noon, proving they still controlled access into Bahri.
In the afternoon, the RSF media office issued a statement saying that they seized 130 vehicles, including 90 from Hattab and the rest from Halfaya. He claimed they killed “hundreds” of soldiers from the army. For its part, the Armed Forces responded acknowledging some losses but downplaying them.
“Our forces at dawn launched a large combing operation in areas in the three cities of the capital. All were successful and went according to plan. There were some losses in parts in Bahri and that did not affect the course of the operations, and the losses are not close to the large numbers that the rebel militia put in their statement, which is exaggerated and falsely inflated,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
Media also reported some fighting in Omdurman and southern Khartoum, but we have no details to provide about those reports at this time.
Additional videos
RSF beating and psychologically terrorizing captured soldiers (graphic):
RSF capturing SAF soldiers who took shelter in a drainage ditch along Al Ingaz Street:
RSF forces celebrating in the aftermath of the clashes:
Today of course marks the three-month anniversary of the war. It is a war that is growing no less terrible with each passing day, week, and month. The vast majority of Sudanese have suffered a significant loss of some kind, whether a home, a job, or a loved one. Unfortunately, there are some men, like the ones in the videos above, who are loving every moment of this. They film their dead or dying victims with glee, beat and brutalize their captives, hold thousands of civilians in inhumane conditions, and care not at all that they have desecrated and desolated a once thriving capital city.
Inshallah there will be peace in Sudan. But we fear that this “war monitoring” project will still be needed for some time.
From the team at Sudan War Monitor, thank you and God bless.