DUBAI (Reuters) – Sudan’s army is currently facing attacks from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the vicinity of Wad Madani, a major city that had previously been spared from combat and had taken in hundreds of thousands of civilians during the eight-month war.
Clashes in the area, approximately 170 km (105 miles) southeast of Khartoum, threaten to open up a new front in a conflict that has displaced nearly 7 million people, left the capital in ruins, and sparked waves of ethnically driven killings in Darfur.
A potential takeover of densely populated Wad Madani, where some government and aid services have been relocated, is likely to lead to mass displacement and exacerbate a humanitarian crisis. The United Nations has warned of famine-like conditions in areas directly affected by the conflict.
On social media, some individuals have posted photos of people packing up their belongings, while others have been inquiring about safe routes out of Wad Madani.
Residents in Khartoum and other cities have reported incidents of rape, looting, arbitrary killing, and detention by RSF forces.
The RSF, a paramilitary force that has recently gained momentum with takeovers of major cities, has stated that it is attempting to protect civilians. In a statement on Friday, it claimed that it was seeking to destroy army strongholds and that citizens in Wad Madani and the surrounding El Gezira state should be reassured.
Witnesses informed Reuters that RSF soldiers had reached Um Eleila, located 15 km from Wad Madani, but that the army had deployed on a bridge that separates the two areas and had deployed army planes overhead. Witnesses in Wad Madani reported hearing explosions, but there was no fighting inside the city.
The town of Um Eleila contains fuel depots that could assist the RSF in its campaign.
An army source told Reuters that the air force and artillery had inflicted significant losses on the RSF and blocked an incursion towards the city.
The conflict between the army and the RSF began in Khartoum on April 15. The two forces had initially shared power with civilians following a popular uprising in 2019, but seized control in a coup in 2021 and subsequently disagreed over plans for a new political transition.
Internationally supported efforts to mediate between the warring factions, both of which claim they can achieve an outright victory, have thus far been unsuccessful.
According to the United Nations, more than 12,000 individuals have died, although experts believe the actual number is likely higher. The International Organization for Migration reports that nearly 1.5 million people have fled Sudan and over 5.4 million have been internally displaced, making Sudan the country with the highest number of displaced individuals globally.
Almost 500,000 of these displaced individuals had fled to Wad Madani and other towns in El Gezira state.
(Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz, additional reporting and writing Nafisa Eltahir; Editing by Aidan Lewis and Nick Macfie)
