Sudan’s army chief, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, declared Khartoum state “liberated” from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on Wednesday, shortly after landing at the capital’s international airport for the first time in two years.
Early Wednesday morning, the army and its supporting forces carried out the largest ground military offensive in Khartoum state, capturing military and civilian sites and expanding into most of the capital’s neighborhoods following a widespread flight of RSF elements.
RSF elements departed most of the Khartoum cities they had occupied, withdrawing towards the west of the country. The force’s vehicles and soldiers congested the Jebel Aulia bridge south of Khartoum during an escape journey documented by army drone footage.
Residents of southern Khartoum celebrated the arrival of army forces into neighborhoods previously under RSF control, with citizens seen chanting for the army in areas like Sahafa, Kalakla, and Gereif.
Sudanese Army Spokesperson Nabil Abdallah said in a statement, “The Chairman of the Sovereignty Council, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, inspected our deployed forces at Khartoum International Airport today, and also inspected the forces at the Republican Palace.”
He explained that Burhan’s plane was the first flight the airport had received since the war broke out on April 15, 2023.
The RSF had seized control of Khartoum International Airport on the first day of the war, before the army recaptured it on Wednesday along with other sites in the capital.
At the Presidential Palace, Burhan stated, “Khartoum is free, its matter is finished,” according to remarks reported by Al Jazeera channel.
Large numbers of Sudanese army soldiers and officers received the Commander-in-Chief, who was visiting the Presidential Palace for the first time in nearly two years.
On March 21, the Sudanese army managed to liberate the Republican Palace and the entire central Khartoum area after days of fierce battles against the RSF.
The UN has called the situation in Sudan the “world’s worst humanitarian crisis” with fighting, widespread famine and disease forcing some 12.5 million of Sudan’s 46 million citizens to flee.
Death tolls, both because of fighting and the humanitarian crisis, are estimated to be between 60,000 and 150,000.
(Sudan Tribune)
