Sudan's army breaks RSF siege on strategic city of el-Obeid

The Sudanese army recently lifted a nearly two-year siege on El Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan state, after which fighting and artillery exchanges continued in this strategic location. Previously, the city had been under siege by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Videos circulating online show celebrations taking place inside the city, with reports of 200 supply trucks entering El Obeid to replenish supplies. Abdalla, a lawyer in El Obeid, told Middle East Eye that fierce clashes occurred on Sunday between the RSF and army mobile units.

Abdalla stated: "But the situation remains unstable. In the morning, the army and RSF shelled each other in the western and northwestern parts of the city. Many shells fell into residential areas, and there are reports of casualties." The town of Bara, north of El Obeid, remains under the control of the RSF. Since April 2023, the paramilitary force has been engaged in conflict with the army, never controlling El Obeid itself, but remaining active in the surrounding rural areas.

The army's Fifth Infantry Division, composed of experienced fighters, has maintained its headquarters in El Obeid throughout the siege. A local source, who requested anonymity for security reasons, stated that the RSF bombed El Obeid from the north with "heavy missiles" on Monday afternoon.

Abdalla stated that army warplanes attacked RSF positions in the north of the city, and there were reports that the RSF attacked the army's command center, but there were no indications that anyone was killed or injured in the attack. "The RSF is still here, there are numerous reports of withdrawals, but it is still attacking the city from the west and northwest," Abdalla said. Despite this, he noted that celebrations have been ongoing, with residents welcoming army soldiers into the city.

Abdalla, using a Starlink internet connection to send messages to Middle East Eye, said: "Communication and electricity networks remain out of service." El Obeid is located at the intersection of several roads connecting western and southern Sudan with the capital, Khartoum, and its strategic significance has meant that the city has been heavily contested since the start of the war.

Military analysts told Middle East Eye that the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) plans to use El Obeid as a springboard for operations in the vast western region of Darfur, which is almost entirely controlled by the RSF. An analyst, who requested anonymity for security reasons, stated: "The SAF does have a ground strategy for western Sudan. Lifting the siege of El Obeid today is of great strategic importance for both ground and air operations."

"This means reactivating the El Obeid airport and exploring multiple land routes to SAF positions in western Sudan." Nathaniel Raymond, executive director of the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL), stated that the army appears to be deploying alongside its allied joint forces to break the RSF siege of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state. This operation will be launched from El Obeid and the Sudanese western town of Babannusa, which was also under RSF siege and later relieved by the army.

Raymond told Middle East Eye that this two-pronged operation could take place in March, but a timeline has not yet been confirmed. On Sunday, the army also regained control of the town of Geteina, south of the capital, Khartoum. Meanwhile, the RSF stated that it would sign a charter with allied political and armed groups to establish a "government of peace and unity" in the areas under its control.

The UAE-backed paramilitary group, which has been accused of genocide by the United States and human rights organizations, controls most of Darfur and parts of the Kordofan region. The siege of El Obeid began shortly after the start of the war in April 2023. After more than 40 days of siege, in June 2023, residents told Middle East Eye that tap water had stopped running, food was scarce, the main power grid had been down for a month, medical facilities had closed, and fuel was only available on the market at six to seven times the normal price. The RSF controlled the surrounding rural areas and set up roadblocks on the outskirts of the city, looting vehicles entering the city and warehouses of the World Food Programme (WFP). These goods were then sold in the market, which was renamed "Dagalo" in honor of RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as Hemedti.

El Fasher, the only city in the entire Darfur region still held by the army, has been under siege by the RSF since last May. On Monday, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) announced that it had to suspend all activities in the Zamzam camp near El Fasher, which houses approximately 500,000 internally displaced persons, due to multiple ground attacks by the RSF on the camp since February 11, and the destruction of approximately half of the camp's market.

According to the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab, in Zamzam and El Fasher, the RSF used four Chinese-made AH4 lightweight howitzers, reportedly sold only to the UAE. According to the HRL, the force also used three Chinese-made drones, "consistent with FH-95 drones flying to Nyala airport, which is controlled by the RSF." On Monday, a military cargo plane was shot down over Nyala airport. The RSF claimed that the plane was used by the army to bomb Darfuri villages and markets, but a source suggested that the paramilitary force may have mistakenly shot down one of its own supply planes.

The war in Sudan has led to one of the world's largest humanitarian crises, with more than 11 million people displaced and more than 30 million in need of humanitarian assistance. It is estimated that thousands have been killed.