Rapid Support Forces renew attack on army base in Babanusa
Heavy exchange of fire near the trenches of the 22nd Infantry Division
Heavy fighting renewed in Babanusa in West Kordofan as the Rapid Support Forces launched another attack against the Sudanese army’s 22nd Infantry Division base on the western side of that city, after two weeks of relative calm.
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) gathered in large numbers on the northern and eastern sides of Babanusa before attacking the army base with artillery, Katyusha rockets, Duskha-style cannons, and small arms.
The army responded in kind and the intense mutual bombardment continued for about three hours, from five o’clock in the evening Saturday until eight o’clock.
A military source from the RSF, who preferred to withhold his name, told Sudan War Monitor that the Armed Forces aviation launched airstrikes on their forces on the northern and eastern sides of the city, resulting in the killing of several RSF members, including a handful whom he identified by name:
Lt Col Hamid Ali al-Nadif
Military media correspondent Rahma al-Tahir Rahmatullah Kaddad
Soldier Hamed Juma Dhabib al-Nadif
Captain Al-Sadiq Al-Saadiq
The source said that 20 members of the RSF suffered varying injuries, ranging from light to serious. They were treated at hospitals in the city of Mujlad, and this with serious injuries were transferred to the capital of East Darfur.
After the fighting, RSF accounts on social media circulated some videos of the clashes, such as the ones above and below.
Meanwhile, a military source affiliated with the army, who preferred to withhold his name, confirmed to Sudan War Monitor that a sergeant named Salah Badawi was killed after he was hit by a shell in the head, as well as six others.
There were also varying injuries among the army members, which are being counted, the source said. They were treated at the 22nd Division’s military hospital.
Clashes and mutual artillery shelling have raged from time to time between the army and the Rapid Support since January 23, 2024. The fighting has displaced most of the city’s population to other parts of West Kordofan and beyond.
West Kordofan was mostly conflict-free during the first five to six months of Sudan’s civil war, which began in April last year. Community leaders belonging to the state’s dominant Misseriya Arab tribe encouraged a local truce to avoid bloodshed among fellow tribesmen, who serve in the ranks of both warring parties.
These powerful tribal leaders hold sway over thousands of tribal militia. The RSF didn’t dare to attack the state capital al-Fula, an-Nahud, and certain oilfields, despite a shortage of army troops in these areas.
The situation began to change as the RSF gained the upper hand in fighting elsewhere, attracting more local recruits, emboldening local RSF commanders, and drawing fighters to the state from elsewhere. Army outposts at the Baleela oilfield and elsewhere were attacked and overrun in late October, and the 22nd Infantry Division withdrew its remaining forces to Babanusa and the Heglig oilfield, near the South Sudanese border.
The RSF began attacking Babanusa in January, but they still have not attempted to attack Heglig, the state capital, or an-Nahud. Sudan’s Air Force has resupplied the Babanusa garrison by airdrop, since the road to Port Sudan is cut off by the RSF. A recent two-pronged SAF offensive to reopen a key supply route north of Babanusa, in North Kordofan, ended disastrously, resulting in hundreds of casualties.
The army’s inability to reinforce the Babanusa garrison means that it is still vulnerable to being overrun, despite having successfully repulsed repeated RSF attacks.
