The Sudanese army has initiated a large-scale offensive against the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the capital, Khartoum, targeting areas it lost at the onset of the conflict. Early on Thursday, government forces launched artillery and air strikes on RSF bases in Khartoum and Bahri, located to the north.
Sudan has been engulfed in a devastating civil war since April 2023, when the army and the RSF, a powerful paramilitary group, began clashing for control. The United Nations has described the situation as one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with up to 150,000 people killed and over 10 million—about a fifth of the population—displaced.
Despite ongoing US-led diplomatic efforts to broker a ceasefire, fighting has intensified, with the latest escalation coming as world leaders gather for the UN General Assembly in New York. Residents reported that the strikes, which began overnight, became more intense at dawn. The military reportedly crossed key bridges over the River Nile, which had previously divided army-controlled Omdurman from RSF-held regions.
The RSF claims to have repelled the army’s attempts, although witnesses reported sounds of heavy clashes and plumes of smoke rising from central Khartoum. The paramilitary forces have controlled nearly all of the capital since early in the war, and this offensive marks the government’s first significant attempt in months to reclaim territory.
Sudan’s de facto leader, Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, addressed the UN General Assembly, expressing his support for peace efforts but insisting that any resolution must end the RSF’s occupation of Sudanese land. He also accused some regional states of supporting the RSF with funding and mercenaries for their own gain, in violation of international law.
The UN has called for immediate action to protect civilians, noting that at least 78 civilians have been killed since early September due to artillery and air strikes in greater Khartoum. The conflict has caused widespread suffering, with both sides accused of targeting civilian areas indiscriminately. The UN warns that the relentless hostilities have triggered the world’s fastest-growing displacement crisis, with half of the 10 million displaced being children.
Sudan faces the world’s largest hunger crisis, with fears of widespread famine as people are unable to grow crops. The western region of Darfur has seen reports of potential genocide against non-Arabs, and a cholera epidemic has claimed over 430 lives in the past month. The ongoing conflict has made delivering humanitarian aid extremely difficult, compounding the crisis.