Sudanese military chiefs celebrate a “turning point” following rapid successes

Speaking to reporters from within the army’s major headquarters, which had been under siege since April 2023, commanders of the Sudanese army and allies celebrated a turning point in the civil war following a week of rapid victories in the capital Khartoum.

The siege of the army General Command was broken on Friday, and the army finally established positive momentum in the nearly two-year conflict with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, after the army recaptured the al-Jaili refinery in northern Bahri last week, along with large portions of the city across the Nile from Khartoum.

As troops viewed the horizon from blown-out windows at the central Khartoum base and cheered as they wandered its grounds, at peace after a protracted RSF offensive, a Reuters witness saw civilians shouting in the streets of Bahri and elsewhere.

One soldier declared on Sunday, “Inch by inch, we’ll go from here to al-Geneina, God willing,” referring to the westernmost city in the nation, which was one of the first to fall to the RSF early in the conflict and where the RSF has been found by the US to have perpetrated genocide.

It was a turning point, according to one army commander.

“From here, the armed forces will move forward to cleanse every remaining inch of our homeland, and from this point, we will see the return of all Sudanese from displacement, allowing them to resume their normal lives in their homeland with security, stability, and God willing, peace,” General Mohamed Othaman al-Hussein, the army

Both the RSF and the army are held accountable for the war’s displacement of over 12 million people and the resulting starvation of half of the population.

A HOSPITAL ATTACK BY DRONE

To the west of Khartoum, the RSF controls large portions of the Kordofan area and the majority of the Darfur region. The army still controls the North and East and has retaken a number of areas in central Sudan in recent months.

The RSF stated it was sending troops in Bahri’s Sharg el-Nil area on Monday and denied the army’s successes. A drone strike on the city’s lone surviving hospital over the weekend claimed scores of lives, and it has continued to attack al-Fashir, the last remaining state capital in Darfur. The RSF blamed the army and denied any culpability.

According to analysts, the army could hold off on starting talks until it has retaken the remaining areas of Khartoum, where the RSF is still extensively present.

Although army officials have opposed the RSF’s membership in the Sudanese state, the RSF has stated that it would favor the establishment of its own government, raising concerns about a legal division of the nation.

However, another military commander from the Joint Forces—a coalition of official rebel factions battling with the army—said they will keep fighting for the country’s west.

“God willing, now that we have broken the siege on the General Command, you will hear about victories by the Joint Forces alongside our brothers in the army, regaining our bases in al-Daein, Nyala, al-Fashir, and Geneina [Darfur state capitals],” stated Colonel Mohamed Hasaballah.