Violent clashes continue in Khartoum Bahri, the sister city of Sudan’s capital, threatening to escalate Sudan’s already dire humanitarian situation and putting at risk the lives of thousands of residents who still haven’t left the city.
The latest fighting took place along the Jaili-Khartoum road, which the army are attempting to cut off, preventing the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) from using the route to move crucial fuel supplies from the refinery to their troops elsewhere. RSF control in the northern part of the city appears to be slipping as the army have reinforced the Kadroo Enclave and directed their drone army from Omdurman toward Bahri.
Clashes also continue around the Signal Corps in southern Bahri, where the RSF have tried to tighten their siege.
Ongoing combat in various parts of Khartoum Bahri supports our recent assessment that fighting is due to escalate in the city, which could become the next main theatre of combat operations in the war, in addition to Al Jazira State, where the army have promised to launch a counter-offensive.
In this post, we share some recent videos from Bahri, with analysis and geolocations.
Ambushes in Kadroo
To begin with, the video at the top of this post shows Sudanese army troops ambushing two vehicles in Kadroo in northern Bahri on March 23. The first passing vehicle escapes, while the second is hit and loses control, crashes into an electricity pole and explodes. The video was filmed 1.2 km north of the Kadroo bus stop, an area previously assessed to have been under RSF control.
In the past few weeks, RSF troops have repeatedly been attacked along this route, both by drones and ground attacks. Below is a video filmed after another SAF ambush in the area on March 20, filmed by the same SAF soldier (graphic: wounded RSF).
Fire in SAF territory north of Signal Corps
Meanwhile, a fire erupted in a commercial/industrial area about 100 meters east of the Bahri Railway line, as seen in the below in a video filmed by a member of the Rapid Support Forces.
The fire in the video matches with a fire seen on satellite images on March 22.
This fire is likely combat-related, due to its location along the frontline. This location is at the northern edge of territory previously confirmed to have been controlled by the Sudan Armed Forces, in the southern part of the Bahri Industrial Zone.
Although the RSF control most of the industrial zone, army control extends into the southern part of the industrial zone, about as far north as the Bahri Railway Passenger Terminal. The fire is close to Ingaz Street, which marks the western border of SAF control in this part of Bahri.
SAF at Al-Amal Hospital
Meanwhile, a complex of large buildings anchors the SAF’s eastern flank around Signal Corps, including Al Amal Hospital, Kober Prison, and a complex of police housing towers. Below is a recent video of SAF troops at Al-Amal Hospital.
Attacks on medical facilities and the repurposing of hospitals for military uses has destroyed the healthcare system in large parts of Sudan’s capital region.
Al-Amal Hospital has been at or near the frontline since last year. The devastation in the area is seen at the Kober Market (15.63126, 32.555398), located near the hospital. This was filmed by an RSF soldier March 19.
RSF launch Kornet missile across the Nile
Another recent video from Bahri shows RSF using a 9M133 Kornet anti-tank guided missile to fire across the Nile toward Omdurman. The video also shows what may be a foxhole that faces west across the Nile.
The video was posted to an RSF Telegram channel on March 19, though the actual date of filming is unknown. Geolocation confirms that it was filmed about 2 km north of the now destroyed Shambat Bridge.
This is not the first time the RSF have been seen using Russian-made Kornet missiles. Previously, they have fired Kornet missiles across the Nile toward the Wadi Saidna military area.
SAF drone strike in industrial area
The Khartoum North Light Industrial Area, which hosted large numbers of RSF troops since early in the war, has suffered extensive damage due to mortar attacks and airstrikes. Recently, SAF seem to have deployed additional drones to the area to carry out attacks using mortar bombs.
The above video was filmed about 1.5 km north of the frontline at the Seen Flour Mills. It’s unclear from this video if those targeted were combatants or civilians. SAF have previously targeted non-military commercial activity in RSF-controlled areas, such as this attack on a market in November.
RSF launch attacks from Al-Khatmiya neighborhood
Lastly, the RSF have launched attacks on Signal Corps from the nearby Khatmiya neighborhood. These geolocations, which were previously already published on this website in Arabic, correspond to videos of RSF fighters available here and here.
Previously, we had assessed this area to be contested.
In brief
Bahri and East Nile have gone for about three weeks without electricity, due to a possibly deliberate cutoff from neighboring Omdurman.
According to the East Nile Emergency Room, electricity and communication networks have been cut off for nearly 40 days. The power outage led to the stop of pumps drawing water from wells, pushing residents to travel long distances to get water. Continued disruption of communication networks hinders communication with volunteers providing humanitarian services.
Military sources told Al Jazeera on Saturday that there was fighting west of the Sennar Sugar Factor, claiming to have inflicted losses on the RSF.
Sudanese warplanes on Friday carried out airstrikes in the Babanusa area, hitting displaced people in Shu’a village, killing two children and a woman, and wounding four others, including the mother and grandmother of the dead children, according to the Babanusa Emergency Room. More than 600 families have taken shelter in the village after fleeing Babanusa, where fighting is ongoing.
The Babanusa Emergency Room last week warned of risks of “famine, thirst and disease” threatening the lives of those displaced from the city. Evacuees in Al-Meiram, a nearby city in West Kordofan, suffer malnutrition and diarrhea cases. Reporting from Al-Meiram, Radio Tamazuj says displaced camps are infested with flies and rife with cases of watery diarrhea.
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