{"id":20066991,"date":"2024-01-12T12:58:47","date_gmt":"2024-01-12T11:58:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dabangasudan.org\/?p=20066991"},"modified":"2024-01-12T13:21:03","modified_gmt":"2024-01-12T12:21:03","slug":"intense-airstrikes-on-sudan-capital-continue-army-advancing-in-omdurman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dabangasudan.org\/en\/all-news\/article\/intense-airstrikes-on-sudan-capital-continue-army-advancing-in-omdurman","title":{"rendered":"Intense airstrikes on Sudan capital continue, army advancing in Omdurman"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

At least 11 people were killed in aerial bombardments in El Salama in southern Khartoum yesterday. The area in the vicinity of the El Sharaja military complex in Khartoum witnessed sporadic clashes between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), while army soldiers seem to advance in Omdurman.<\/strong> Sudan \u201cranks second among its regional neighbours in total firearms estimates,” a senior researcher at the Small Arms Survey reported last year.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The renewed fierce fighting<\/a> between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the RSF in greater Khartoum continued in Khartoum yesterday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The emergency room of Khartoum\u2019s \u2018southern belt<\/a>\u2019, set up by resistance committees in the area, reported that 10 people were fatally hit by artillery SAF attacks on RSF positions in El Salama yesterday morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This morning the bombing of El Salama continued, the neighbourhood\u2019s resistance committees reported. A son of a man killed in the blasts yesterday, succumbed to his wounds this night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The nearby neighbourhoods of El Azhari and Mayo were also bombarded yesterday. The intensive airstrikes were repelled by RSF anti-aircraft artillery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People still living in eastern Khartoum, told Radio Dabanga that RSF sites in El Manshiya, Burri, and El Riyadh were attacked with SAF drones on Tuesday evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Radio Dabanga received also reports of SAF troops advancing in old (central) Omdurman and set up posts in Wad Nubawi, Hay El Arab, and near the Es Soug Esh Sha\u2019abi market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The RSF allegedly posted \u201cvideo clips from El Arbaeen Street, the El Tijani El Mahi Hospital and the Omdurman municipality\u201d on social media, while SAF supporters contradicted these with footage of army soldiers patrolling El Arbaeen Street and the El Morada Market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sudan War Monitor (SWM) reported<\/a> yesterday that the intensified SAF attacks killed 23 people in Soba in southeast Khartoum on Tuesday. At least two people were injured in East Nile and 10 died in artillery attacks in El Salama yesterday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Airpower <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The army command is now headquartered in Port Sudan, and lost control of most of the capital, Khartoum, SWM commented. \u201cIt uses a fleet of Antonov transport planes, Sukhoi and MiG fighters, and some helicopters. By contrast, RSF have no air force, but they have won most of the ground battles of the war.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the war between the Sudanese army and its paramilitary counterpart, the RSF, on April 15 last year, the RSF took control of most of greater Khartoum. \u201cThe Sudanese army’s infantry battalions have hardly been present on the streets of Khartoum during the two months-long conflict,\u201d the BBC said on June 24<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is despite the fact that the army is made up of about 200,000 soldiers, roughly twice the size of the RSF. [..] With its airpower being its greatest strength, the military has been constantly carrying out strikes to weaken the RSF. Although they are believed to have killed hundreds of civilians, they have not prevented the paramilitaries from advancing in Khartoum, Bahri and Omdurman.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘Awash’<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

An article written by Khristopher Carlson, senior researcher at the Small Arms Survey in The Conversation<\/a> in May last year, \u201cshows that the two armed forces in Sudan employ strikingly contrasting fighting methods \u2013 both with flagrant disregard for the safety of the population,\u201d the Geneva Graduate Institute<\/a> explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSudan is awash with firearms,\u201d Carlson stated. \u201cThe country ranks second<\/a> among its regional neighbours in total firearms estimates, with combined holdings among civilians<\/a> and security forces topping out at over three million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Sudanese army has in excess of 120,000 troops countrywide \u2013 with several thousand more in reserve. Its recruits are primarily from the country\u2019s peripheries, while its leadership is comprised largely of elites from the central Nile region. The army\u2019s capability is bolstered by its air force and supported by battle tanks and other armoured infantry vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Rapid Support Forces have more than 75,000 combatants, most of whom hail from the Darfur region in the country\u2019s far west. The force is buttressed by additional recruits in Sudan\u2019s north and east.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several militia groups aligned with the paramilitary force\u2019s commander, Mohamed \u2018Hemedti\u2019 Dagalo, could mobilise if conflict intensifies in Sudan\u2019s peripheries, particularly in Darfur, the researcher warns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for the Sudanese capital, RSF fighters in Khartoum, \u201cwhich has seen the most sustained and concentrated fighting, are relying on small arms and heavy machine guns to control the airport and government buildings, and to hold positions wedged between residential apartment blocks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese paramilitary fighters have an abundance of AK-pattern rifles and more sophisticated high-calibre weapons. Since former President Omar Bashir\u2019s ouster in 2019 and Hemedti\u2019s rise as deputy leader of Sudan\u2019s government, he\u2019s been relatively unencumbered in procuring weapons and equipment for his force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA 2019 investigation<\/a> revealed that more than 1,000 vehicles \u2013 most of them Toyota Hilux pick-ups \u2013 were purchased from dealers in the United Arab Emirates, and later equipped with mounted weapons. The funds to purchase the vehicles were likely sourced from Hemedti\u2019s vast gold mining operations<\/a> in Sudan,\u201d Carlson stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2015, Sudan was considered the third largest weapons manufacturer<\/a> in Africa, after Egypt and South Africa. In February that year, Sudan displayed a wide range of arms<\/a> and military equipment produced by the state-owned Military Industry Corporation (MIC) at the International Defence Exhibition and Conference (Idex) in Abu Dhabi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allies<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRegional powers have picked sides<\/a>,\u201d Sudanese policy analyst Kholood Khair and civil society activist Asmahan Akam confirmed in early December<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEgypt, Iran, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia support the SAF while the UAE, a UN Security Council member, backs the RSF in seeming violation of the body\u2019s own arms embargo on Darfur, first enacted in 2004 and just renewed (with a yes vote from the UAE) in March 2023.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UAE has denied <\/a>supplying weapons or ammunition to the RSF.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hemedti seems to be politically backed by a number of African countries, as he has been welcomed, in Kenya<\/a> even as an official statesman, by several African presidents during his recent tour<\/a> through the continent.<\/p>\n