Heavy fighting in Khartoum after 3-day ceasefire ends
Enormous fire guts the General Intelligence HQ
The Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) fought each other Wednesday in all three cities of Greater Khartoum, but particularly in Omdurman around the besieged Corps of Engineers.
Huge fires raged at the General Intelligence Service headquarters in Khartoum and at a warehouse next to the Coca-Cola bottling plant in Khartoum Bahri. For the first time, the RSF attacked the Central Reserve Police base in southwest Khartoum.
The fighting began at dawn, shortly before the expiry of the latest 72-hour ceasefire.
Fighting near Fatehab Bridge
Both SAF and RSF posted videos confirming fighting inside Abu Seid / Al Fatehab neighborhood. Control of the neighborhood is significant because it borders Rwabi Beach, Fatehab Bridge, and the Corps of Engineers (Mohandiseen) military base. If the RSF are able take control of the neighborhood, SAF will have a hard time defending the Corps of Engineers and the bridge.
During the fighting, the army destroyed at least two RSF technicals, according to the below videos geolocated by @mustapro. Both videos were filmed deep inside the neighborhood. A civilian witness in the neighborhood told Al Hadath, “We cannot move even between the rooms of the house for fear of stray bullets.”
RSF published video purportedly from the area, too, but it isn’t yet geolocated:
Similarly, this video isn’t geolocated but likely was filmed at Abu Seid cemetery, which is in the neighborhood. SAF accounts shared it saying it was filmed in “Hamad Al Nil graveyard”—likely a case of incorrect captioning. The visual evidence suggests that it was not filmed at Hamad Al Nil graveyard.
Special Forces at Mohandiseen
Also on Wednesday, SAF forces launched an operation west from Corps of Engineers to clear parts of the Mohandiseen neighborhood near their base and to assert control over the major junction of Siraj Station.
The below propaganda video was filmed only 350 meters west of Corps of Engineers. Geolocation by @Wolltigerhueter (15.6082, 32.4678 at the start of the video).
The caption identifies these as Special Operations forces. Uniforms of some soldiers in the video match those of Special Forces, though there are also a few police and Central Reserve Police. SAF’s Special Operations forces have a base northwest of Omdurman. Their presence at Corps of Engineers suggests that they were dispatched to reinforce the base and succeeded in breaking through the RSF siege of the area.
Another video, which was removed by Twitter for being too graphic, showed two burnt corpses next to a burnt technical, immediately north of Corps of Engineers.
Fire at General Intelligence Headquarters
A massive fire broke out at the General Intelligence Service headquarters next to the Armed Forces General Command on Tuesday afternoon.
In a statement, RSF said that they controlled the building and the army bombed it “with drones and artillery” to destroy the records inside.
For its part, the army didn’t comment specifically on the fire but army sources told Al Jazeera that the general command was shelled from Burri. The army on Wednesday attacked nearby areas using artillery and warplanes.
The fire erupted about twelve hours before the scheduled expiry of the 72-hour ceasefire that began June 18 at 6:00 a.m. Clashes also had occurred Tuesday near the Khartoum Bahri industrial area, with sporadic gunfire in South Khartoum as well. On the prior two days, the ceasefire had largely held.
Shelling near army headquarters
Following the attack on the intelligence headquarters, the army shelled and bombed the nearby Nasser Extension neighborhood, according the local resistance committees.
Fire in Khartoum Bahri Industrial Area
An enormous fire also broke out Wednesday in the Khartoum Bahri Industrial area, next to the Coca-Cola bottling plant (Dal Group) (15.6373949, 32.5586895).
The area is controlled by the RSF. Warplanes were seen over Bahri the same day, and the person filming this video says the fire was caused by aerial bombardment. However, the industrial area is also within artillery range of Signal Corps, a SAF holdout at the southern end of Bahri.
Additional Video
This is another video of the fighting south of Corps of Engineers, filmed from inside a SAF armored vehicle, June 21, 2023.