RSF take control of Sudanese army base in Jebel Aulia
November 20, 2023 (KHARTOUM) – The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have seized control of the Sudanese army base in the Jebel Aulia area, south of Khartoum, according to a statement released by the RSF on Monday.
The clashes between the army and the RSF in Jebel Aulia began on November 12, when the RSF attacked the army base in an attempt to find an outlet linking it to western Sudan. The RSF seized the army’s Al-Nujoumi air base during the attack.
The RSF stated that its forces had “liberated, at dawn on Monday, the entire Jebel Aulia military base south of Khartoum, including the bridge linking Khartoum to Omdurman.”
The ongoing fighting has caused a massive displacement of residents of the area to the neighbouring White Nile and Al-Jazirah states on foot.
According to data from the Jebel Aulia Emergency Room, an independent group from the inhabitants of the locality, dozens of civilians are dead, missing, or kidnapped by the RSF. There has also been extensive looting in the city and its neighbouring villages.
The Emergency Room has been unable to provide accurate statistics for the victims due to the interruption of communications and internet service since the outbreak of confrontations between the two sides of the fighting nine days ago.
The army’s base in Jebel Aulia is located on a hill overlooking the barrage and the White Nile from the eastern side.
For the first time since the fighting began on April 15, Major General Osman Mohamed Hamid, the Director of the RSF Military Operation Room, appeared inside the captured military base.
In a video clip, Major General Hamid pledged to fight to protect the RSF, and the Sudanese people, and for justice, equality, freedom, and peace.
He is one of the few army officers who refused to rejoin the army after his assignment to the RSF was ended by al-Burhan when the war broke out on April 15.
The RSF is a paramilitary group that was part of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), before the eruption of the armed conflict.
(ST)