Sudan’s army launched an early morning offensive in the capital, Khartoum, against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in what appeared to be the army’s biggest operation since the conflict began.
Reports from Khartoum say the army hit Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, positions in the capital with artillery and air strikes.
The rebel group has controlled much of the city since fighting erupted in April 2023 between Sudan’s army chief, General Abdel Fattah Burhan, and RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
The two generals were once allies in Sudan’s transitional government after a 2021 coup but became rivals for power.
Reports from Khartoum said army troops crossed two key bridges over the River Nile that separate government-controlled areas in Omdurman from Khartoum proper, which is controlled by the RSF.
Thursday’s offensive coincides with a ministerial meeting on the conflict at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where U.N. agencies and member states called for immediate action to protect civilians, increase humanitarian assistance and end the fighting.
U.N. reports state that an estimated 20,000 people have been killed and thousands injured since the conflict erupted in April 2023. The fighting has also created the world’s worst hunger crisis, with nearly 26 million people — more than half the country’s population — facing acute hunger.
The civil conflict has also created a regional refugee crisis, with an estimated 8.1 million internally displaced persons and another 2.2 million driven across the border.
