Sudanese army retakes towns from RSF in White Nile state, Omdurman areas

May 2, 2025 (RABAK) – The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and allied groups recaptured several towns west of White Nile state on Friday, military sources said, as part of an offensive aiming to clear the strategic state and areas near the capital Khartoum of paramilitary rivals.

Pockets of the rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF) still hold positions west of Al-Dueim in the White Nile and south of Omdurman, across the Nile from Khartoum.

On Friday, the army retook Al-Sufi village in the Umm Ramta locality, west of White Nile state, and conducted clearing operations in the nearby towns of Al-Alqa and Al-Shaqeeq after clashes with the RSF, the military sources said.

The villages lie on the White Nile’s west bank, an area where RSF fighters became active after withdrawing from the Jebel Aulia area, about 45 km (28 miles) south of Khartoum.

Military sources told Sudan Tribune that army units from the 18th Division based in White Nile, fighters from the Sudan Shield Forces group led by Abu Agla Keikel, and army troops in Omdurman coordinated the ongoing offensive.

The operation aims to complete the ‘clearing’ of northwestern White Nile and southwestern Khartoum state, including the Salha suburb of Omdurman, the sources added. They predicted the areas could be declared clear of the “rebel militia” – the army’s term for the RSF – within days, citing significant progress over the past 48 hours.

Meanwhile, military sources said the RSF attacked the army’s 18th Infantry Division headquarters in Kosti, the White Nile state capital, using drones to hinder army advances further west towards the Kordofan and Darfur regions.

The RSF also fired heavy artillery from positions in Omdurman’s southern Salha district at targets in Khartoum and shelled Omdurman’s Al-Fitaihab neighbourhood, the sources added.