Sudan’s Al Burhan vows to fight as army makes significant gains in the capital

The RSF denies claims of military advances in the capital or taking back armed forces headquarters

Sudanese troops celebrate the recapture of an oil refinery that had been held by the Rapid Support Forces for more than a year. Reuters

Sudan’s armed forces chief Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan vowed on Sunday to build on recent battlefield successes in the capital and fight on until the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces is defeated, prolonging the 21-month-old war in Africa's third-largest country.

The armed forces have in the past week recorded a string of battlefield gains against the paramilitary group in Bahri, one of three cities that make up the Sudanese capital’s greater region, and secured a foothold in central Khartoum.

"Our forces and our resources are in good shape and we owe that to the compassion and will of God," Gen Al Burhan told commanders inside the armed forces' headquarters in the capital, which the army said it had retaken from the RSF on Friday. Gen Al Burhan arrived at the sprawling complex on Sunday, according to the military.

"The battle will continue 'til its conclusion and the end of the mutiny," he added. A video of his comments was released by the military.

"Bahri will be totally cleansed in two to three days. Omdurman is next and we will march on Khartoum," he said, referring to the three Nile-side cities that make up the capital's greater region.

Gen Al Burhan made similar comments on Saturday during a visit to a major oil refinery north of the Sudanese capital that the army retook from the RSF the previous day.

“Our pledge to the people is to continue battling this mutiny until every inch desecrated by that militia is cleansed,” he said.

The military also released a video of the refinery showing large parts of the complex charred and some buildings smouldering. They accused the RSF on Wednesday of setting the refinery ablaze. The RSF denied the claim, saying strikes by the air force were responsible for the fire.

However, Hesham Babkr, the refinery's director, told reporters on Sunday that the damage to the facility was minor and that it would soon resume operations.

On Saturday night, the RSF also dismissed the army’s claims of gains in Bahri and denied the fall of the armed forces headquarters into the army’s hands.

“We emphasise that our forces are strong and solid on all fronts in Khartoum, Bahri and Omdurman as well as outside the capital,” it said.

Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan greeting cadets during a graduation ceremony in Gibet near Port Sudan in July 2024. AFP

The RSF, led by Gen Al Burhan’s former ally Gen Mohamed Dagalo, has repeatedly dismissed claims of battlefield gains by the army only to later acknowledge its losses. The army at times does not acknowledge the loss to the RSF of territory.

Last week, soldiers began a two-pronged offensive in Bahri, advancing against the RSF in opposite directions. They marched on Al Jeely refinery to the north and the besieged army Signals Corps in the south.

On Friday, the troops broke the siege of the Signals Corps and crossed a strategic bridge on the Blue Nile to win back control of the armed forces headquarters in Khartoum, according to the military.

A video purportedly taken by the military’s media unit showed a vehicle with bullet holes in its windscreen speeding across the Blue Nile bridge towards the armed forces headquarters. Blackened vehicles and abandoned sandbagged machine-gun positions could be seen on the Khartoum end of the bridge.

The authenticity of the video could not be verified by The National.

Gen Mohamed Dagalo, commander of Sudan's paramilitary the Rapid Support Forces. AP

The recapture of the army headquarters is symbolically significant and could signal the start of further expansion in Khartoum, where the RSF continues to control the presidential palace, the airport and government ministries.

“Taking back the armed forces general command will allow the troops to capture central Khartoum, including the presidential palace,” said military analyst Galal Tawar, a retired army general. “What we are witnessing is the fruition of a neat, detailed and comprehensive plan by the army to retake the entire capital.”

The RSF has controlled most of the armed forces complex since the start of the war, with only a small contingent of troops holding out in one section.

Gen Al Burhan himself was stuck in the complex for months before he escaped last year amid a heavy gun battle between his guards and besieging RSF fighters. He has since been based in Port Sudan on the Red Sea, where the army commanders and the military-backed government are now based.

The armed forces headquarters is linked to the military section of Khartoum’s International Airport, which has also been held by the RSF since the war began in April 2023.

Photographs posted online on Saturday purportedly showed army troops inside the airport, with an aircraft visible in the background.

There have been no reports of fighting at the airport or confirmation from the military on whether an offensive to retake it is under way. The RSF said on Saturday night it continued to control the airport.

War-displaced Sudanese saying goodbye to locals in Port Sudan on the Red Sea before they start their journey home in the the southern city of Singah, November 2024. AFP

The RSF also continues to control large parts of the capital’s three cities, with the army’s presence in Omdurman largely restricted to the city’s historical district, areas of Bahri housing military bases and a narrow foothold in Khartoum.

However, retaking the armed forces complex, which houses Gen Al Burhan’s residence, the Defence Ministry and the headquarters of the army, air force and navy, is a milestone in a war whose early days saw significant army losses.

“This is the beginning of a new history of the armed forces,” said chief of staff Gen Mohammed Osman Al Hassan in an address to the nation.

“This will serve as a motivation for us to cleanse the entire land of Sudan from the militia,” he said.

Besides the areas under its control in the capital, the RSF holds most of the western Darfur region, large swathes of Kordofan to the south-west and areas south of the capital.

Gen Al Burhan and Gen Dagalo are vying for control of the resource-rich Afro-Arab nation, with both men claiming to be fighting for the benefit of Sudan. However, both stand accused by the UN and rights groups of war crimes and have recently been sanctioned by the US for their part in the conflict.

The war has killed tens of thousands and displaced more than 10 million Sudanese, including three million who have found refuge outside Sudan. The war has also left about 26 million people facing acute hunger, with some pockets of famine already surfacing across the nation.

Al Shafie Ahmed reported from Kampala, Uganda.