Sudan army pushes into Khartoum as Al Burhan supports end to war if RSF is disarmed

Army starts major operation to retake territory in the capital from the Rapid Support Forces

Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan's army launched artillery and air strike attacks in the capital Khartoum. Reuters

The head of Sudan's army said on Thursday he supports efforts to end the war in his country as long as the “occupation” by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces also ends.

Conditions for peace include the RSF laying down its arms, Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan said, speaking at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, where he accused foreign actors of providing funding, weapons and mercenaries to the RSF. He did not identify the so-called actors.

The comments came after the army launched artillery attacks and air strikes in capital Khartoum in a major offensive to regain territory held by the rival group since the start of the 17-month conflict. The paramilitary group pushed the army out of the capital when the war began in April 2023 between Gen Al Burhan and his former deputy Mohamed Dagalo, who heads the RSF.

At the UN General Assembly, Gen Al Burhan said the army was “proceeding to defeat and dislodge these aggressors, no matter how much assistance and support they find” and called for the RSF to be designated as a terror group.

Rapid Support Forces commander Gen Mohamed Dagalo, then deputy head of Sudan's sovereign council, gives a media briefing in Khartoum in February last year. Reuters

Smoke rises after blasts in Khartoum amid clashes between the Sudanese Army and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary on April 15 last year. AFP

Sudanese Army soldiers at the Rapid Support Forces base in Port Sudan on April 16 last year. AFP

Black smoke covers the sky over Khartoum as clashes continued on April 19. AFP

Displaced Khartoum residents flee the city after a 24-hour truce collapsed on April 19. AFP

Foreign citizens board a plane at a French military air base in Khartoum to leave Sudan on April 23. AFP

A soldier carries a child as people evacuated from Sudan disembark from a plain at a military airport in Amman on April 24. AFP

Evacuees from Sudan sit in a military plane as they wait to be processed by Kenyan troops in Nairobi on April 24. Reuters

Sudanese refugees gather to receive humanitarian aid in Koufroun, Chad, on April 30. AFP

Sudanese Army chief Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan visits troop positions in Khartoum on May 30. AFP

Sudanese refugees at the Zabout camp in Goz Beida, Chad, on July 1. AP

Smoke rises from a fire at a lumber warehouse in southern Khartoum on June 7. AFP

People prepare to leave Khartoum during a ceasefire on June 19. AP

People sit on top of a lorry carrying furniture on the road between Khartoum and Wad Madani, Al Gezirah state, on July 18. AFP

Men load goods from Ethiopia on to a lorry in the border town of Gallabat on August 2. AFP

Sudanese Army troops ride in a military convoy accompanying the governor of Darfur State in the eastern city of Gedaref on August 30. AFP

A fire rages at a livestock market after RSF bombardment in Al Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, on September 1. AFP

People cook on a campfire at a school that has been turned into a shelter for displaced Sudanese in the northern border town of Wadi Halfa, near Egypt, on September 11. AFP

Displaced Sudanese ride on top of a lorry in Wad Madani on December 16. AFP

Sudanese refugees queue to board a lorry to go to a transit centre after crossing the border into South Sudan on February 14. AFP

People watch as fighters from the army-aligned Sudan Liberation Movement attend a graduation ceremony in the south-eastern Gedaref state on March 28. AFP

Fighters from the SLM attend a graduation ceremony in Gedaref state on March 28. AFP

In Khartoum, witnesses reported heavy bombardments and clashes as army troops tried to cross bridges over the Nile that connect the three cities that make up the greater capital: Khartoum, Omdurman and Bahri. The army had largely regained parts of Omdurman in a similar operation in February.

“The army is carrying out heavy artillery strikes and air strikes on Halfaya and Shambat,” Ahmed Abdalla, a 48-year-old resident, told Reuters by phone, referring to areas of Bahri close to the river. “The sounds of explosions are very loud.”

Video footage showed black smoke rising above the capital and booms from the battle could be heard in the background.

Army sources said their forces had crossed bridges in Khartoum and Bahri, while the RSF told Reuters it had thwarted the army's attempt to cross two bridges to Khartoum. Reuters could not independently confirm the accounts.

Though the army retook some ground in Omdurman early this year, it depends mostly on artillery and air strikes and has been unable to dislodge nimble RSF ground forces embedded in other parts of the capital.