Sudan's RSF seizes largest arms and ammunition complex in serious blow to the army

Red Cross, meanwhile, says it rescued hundreds of children and babies trapped in a Khartoum orphanage since war began

Smoke from a fire near a military complex containing an arms factory in southern Khartoum, Sudan. Reuters

The paramilitary group fighting Sudan’s army since April says it has captured the country’s largest arms and ammunition complex in a victory that, if independently confirmed, deals a major blow to its rival.

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), said in a statement late on Wednesday that it had taken control of the Al Yarmouk complex in southern Khartoum after chasing army soldiers out of the manufacturing and storage facility, which is sited next to large fuel depots.

It later posted footage online that purportedly shows its fighters celebrating the capture of the facility, firing in the air and dancing with a small crowd of civilians. Another video clip showed RSF fighters inside the complex, standing under a sign that bears its name and an image of army chief Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan.

In the background was a huge, off-white cloud, apparently from a raging fire.

“The capture of the Al Yarmouk military industry complex signals the beginning of the defeat of the Sudanese army,” a clearly disgruntled army officer said in an audio widely shared online.

Another officer who spoke in the same audio said at least 11 soldiers were killed in the fight over the complex. The force in charge of protecting the facility, he said, pulled out when they ran out of ammunition.

The authenticity of the audio recordings could not be immediately verified.

A Sudanese armed forces armoured personnel carrier in southern Khartoum during fighting on Wednesday. AFP

The army and the RSF, led by Gen Mohamed Dagalo, have been fighting since April 15. The fighting is part of a power struggle centred around Gen Al Burhan’s insistence that the RSF be integrated into the armed forces as part of a package of far-reaching reform that would also mean the army leaving politics and allowing a civilian-led government to steer the country until elections are held.

The two generals jointly staged a coup in October 2021 that derailed Sudan’s democratic transition and plunged the vast Afro-Arab nation into its worst political and economic crisis in living memory.

The fighting has killed hundreds and injured thousands. It has forced nearly two million people to flee their homes, according to the latest UN figures. These include 476,000 who have sought refuge in neighbouring countries, mainly Egypt, Chad and South Sudan.

After a series of ceasefires failed to stop the fighting and the collapse of a US-Saudi mediation, representatives of the warring sides are now back to the negotiating table in Jeddah discussing the prospect of a new ceasefire.

An otherwise normal street in Khartoum on Thursday apart from the smoke rising from a battle behind buildings in the background. AFP

On the table now is a potential 24-hour ceasefire deal that would be monitored by surveillance drones, according to an RSF representative.

“The proposal includes imposing sanctions on the party that will violate the truce, and negotiations will be suspended permanently in the event that the two sides do not adhere to them,” Mustafa Ibrahim, a member of the advisory office of Gen Dagalo, told the Arab World News Agency.

The RSF representative said that monitoring the truce by the US and Saudi Arabia, “will be more rigorous, and it will be done through surveillance drones”.

In a development that provides a rare ray of hope amid the carnage in Sudan, the International Committee of the Red Cross said it has rescued hundreds of babies and children who were trapped in a Khartoum orphanage by the fighting.

The ICRC also rescued 70 support staff from the Mygoma Orphanage on Wednesday, at the request of Sudan's Ministry of Social Development.

The children, the eldest of whom were 15, travelled in a convoy of cars to Wad Madani, about 200km south of Khartoum.

The ICRC said the operation was undertaken after it obtained security guarantees from the Sudanese army and the RSF to ensure safe passage.