The paramilitary
Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has waged a major offensive against the
Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in
Sennar State, resulting in widespread violence and displacement,
as part of the ongoing
Sudanese civil war The term Sudanese Civil War refers to at least three separate conflicts:
*First Sudanese Civil War (1955–1972)
*Second Sudanese Civil War (1983–2005)
*South Sudanese Civil War (2013–2020)
It could also refer to other internal conflicts in Suda ...
.
Background
The conflict in Sudan has been ongoing since April 2023, when tensions between the SAF and the RSF escalated into open warfare.
Offensive
The Sennar Offensive began with the RSF attacking the village of Jebal Moya in
Sennar province
Sennar ( ar, سنار ') is a city on the Blue Nile in Sudan and possibly the capital of the state of Sennar. It remains publicly unclear whether Sennar or Singa is the capital of Sennar State. For several centuries it was the capital of the F ...
. The conflict soon spread to the provincial capital of
Singa, where intense fighting erupted.
RSF fighters in pickup trucks mounted with automatic rifles rampaged through Singa, looting houses and shops, and taking over the city's main hospital. The RSF claimed to have seized the military's main facility, the 17th Infantry Division Headquarters, in Singa.
Impact and aftermath
The violence forced about 57,000 people to flee their homes. Those fleeing Singa arrived in
Gedaref
El-Gadarif ( ar, القضارف '), also spelt ''Gedaref'' or ''Gedarif'', is the capital of the state of Al Qadarif (state), Al Qadarif in Sudan. It lies on the road that connects Khartoum with Gallabat on the Ethiopia–Sudan border, Ethiopian bo ...
,
Blue Nile,
White Nile
The White Nile ( ar, النيل الأبيض ') is a river in Africa, one of the two main tributaries of the Nile, the other being the Blue Nile. The name comes from the clay sediment carried in the water that changes the water to a pale color. ...
, and
Kassala states. Aid groups in Gedaref, which is already hosting more than 600,000 people, started planning for the arrival of those fleeing Sennar.
The Sennar Offensive has had severe humanitarian consequences, with potential future disruption of large-scale agricultural programs in the nearby provinces of Blue Nile, White Nile, and Jazira.
References
{{Sudanese civil war (2023–present)
Battles of the Sudanese civil war (2023–present)
Battles involving Sudan