Sudanese army repels RSF attack on its command centre
September 16, 2023 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese military announced on Saturday that its forces successfully repelled an assault by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on strategic positions near its central command centre in Khartoum.
The RSF had taken to social media to share images and video clips depicting a major offensive against the Army General Command’s headquarters. However, they refrained from issuing official statements or videos confirming their control over the military site.
In response, the army’s spokesperson released a statement in the evening, stating that the armed forces had thwarted a dawn attack by what they described as a “rebel militia” on advanced positions surrounding the General Command.
The spokesperson revealed that the assailant forces suffered significant casualties, including dozens of fatalities and injuries. Furthermore, a substantial number of combat vehicles were destroyed, compelling the attackers to hastily retreat, he added.
Despite being surrounded by the RSF from multiple directions, Sudanese army leaders continued to oversee military operations from the General Command headquarters. Notably, the Commander-in-Chief of the Sudanese Army had departed for Port Sudan in the final week of August, despite the ongoing siege.
The army’s spokesperson accused the RSF of persistently targeting residential areas through indiscriminate shelling. This resulted in 40 civilians sustaining injuries after neighborhoods in Omdurman, specifically Banat, Abbasiya, and Al-Mawradah, near the Corps of Engineers, were bombarded.
The military tensions in Khartoum escalated in the wake of threats issued by RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo. He had warned that he would establish a government with Khartoum as the capital if the army attempted to form an emergency government in eastern Sudan.
According to a military source, the RSF’s attack on the army headquarters unfolded from the north-eastern and south-western directions. Simultaneously, RSF forces intensively shelled the headquarters of the Sudanese Army Signal Corps in Khartoum North, as well as the Armoured Corps in the southern vicinity of Khartoum. Ground clashes also erupted in the Kober neighbourhood in Khartoum North.
Additionally, fierce confrontations occurred near the Army Corps of Engineers in Omdurman.
The army had recently succeeded in gaining control over several adjacent neighbourhoods, including the Al-Fatihab suburb, and all areas in Omdurman up to the Al-Ardah neighbourhood, located near the Omdurman Islamic University, which had been converted into a military base by the RSF.
The RSF’s shift in strategy is evident in these coordinated assaults, departing from their previous practice of concentrating all their forces on a single military objective.
The Sudanese military aviation conducted extensive airstrikes targeting paramilitary force positions in the East of the Nile town, as well as in the southern and western regions of Omdurman.