Jebel Aulia dam is not damaged by bridge destruction: official

November 18, 2023 (KHARTOUM) – A senior official in the Sudanese Ministry of Irrigation has confirmed that the Jebel Aulia dam was not damaged despite the destruction of a movable bridge.

Earlier on Saturday, the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) traded accusations of destroying the bridge over the Jebel Aulia Dam on the White Nile, which connects Khartoum and Omdurman. The bridge is located 44 kilometres south of the Sudanese capital.

The two parties have been engaged in clashes in the Jebel Aulia area for several days, as the RSF seeks to control the stone bridge, which was built in 1937 as an alternative to the Shambat Bridge linking Omdurman and Khartoum Bahri. The Shambat Bridge was destroyed on November 11.

The Irrigation Ministry official explained that the movable section of the bridge, which allows Nile ships to pass through, was raised to prevent the paramilitary forces from crossing.

He added that a shell fired by the RSF at the bridge caused its destruction, causing it to fall near one of the dam gates. However, he emphasized that the dam itself remained intact.

In a Saturday morning statement, the army accused the RSF of bombing and destroying the Jabal Aulia Bridge. The RSF quickly countered with its own accusation, claiming that the army was responsible for blowing up the bridge.

In a separate statement on Saturday, the Sudanese foreign ministry condemned “the heinous terrorist crime committed by the rebel militia” at dawn on Saturday when they bombed the Jebel Aulia Bridge, causing its destruction.

“This terrorist crime coincides with the continuation of mass massacres by the terrorist militia against civilians and safe towns and villages in different regions of the country,” the statement emphasized.

The statement also accused the RSF of attacking villages in the Jamia area, southwest of Omdurman, killing a large number of people and bombing residential areas.

(ST)