Sudan Army Retakes Presidential Palace in Khartoum from RSF
Boutros Hussein, Kanako Mita, and Michiyo Tanabe
Modern Tokyo Times
Army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan of Sudan re-entered the presidential palace in Khartoum after the Sudanese armed forces had earlier captured the airport.
He declared, “Khartoum is free.”
The BBC reports, “The military-led government was forced to move to Port Sudan on the Red Sea after the RSF seized control of the capital early in the war.”
This is a setback for the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) under Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. Hence, it remains to be seen how the RSF will respond in the coming weeks.
France 24 reports, “Witnesses said the RSF had focused its troops in southern Khartoum, apparently to secure their withdrawal from the city via bridges to the neighbouring city of Omdurman.”
The latest setback for the RSF – condemned for notable ethnic massacres in Darfur and other parts of Sudan – raises the fear of a de facto state-within-a-state. Accordingly, the partitioning of Sudan based on respective consolidation is a real fear – with the RSF controlling western regions and so forth.
President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi (al-Sisi) of Egypt opposes any attempt to create a parallel government in Sudan.
The Egyptian Foreign Minister (Badr Abdelatty) declared several weeks ago that “Sudan’s territorial integrity is a red line for Egypt… (Egypt) rejects any calls to establish alternative structures outside the current framework.”
The Sudanese army captured the bridges that link the River Nile. Hence, the three cities that create Greater Khartoum are firmly under control.
CNN reports, “Earlier in the day, the military announced it had recaptured the RSF’s last major stronghold in Khartoum, the Teiba al-Hasnab camp. There was no immediate RSF comment.”
UN News reports, “Sudan has been embroiled in a conflict between the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces since April 2023. The war has displaced millions and left parts of the country plagued by famine and critical shortages of lifesaving aid.”
The fear is that Sudan may split politically, similar to Libya, if the RSF entrenches itself in the west of the country. Hence, a de facto partition.
The Guardian reports, “Some of the most serious allegations relating to Hemedti and the RSF have once again focused on Darfur, where up to 15,000 people died in well documented RSF attacks on El Geneina in west Darfur in 2023 targeting the non-Arab Masalit and other ethnic groups.”
Modern Tokyo News is part of the Modern Tokyo Times group
http://moderntokyotimes.com Modern Tokyo Times – International News and Japan News
http://sawakoart.com – Sawako Utsumi and her website – Modern Tokyo Times artist
https://moderntokyonews.com Modern Tokyo News – Tokyo News and International News
PLEASE JOIN ON TWITTER
https://twitter.com/MTT_News Modern Tokyo Times
PLEASE JOIN ON FACEBOOK
http://facebook.com/moderntokyotimes