The battle of Khartoum is an ongoing battle for control of Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and the Sudanese Armed Forces. The battle began on 15 April 2023, after the RSF allegedly captured Khartoum International Airport, several military bases, and the presidential palace, starting an escalating series of clashes.

It was initially reported that tensions rose in Khartoum and Merowe on 13 April 2023, when RSF forces mobilized. In response, the SAF issued a statement saying "There is a possibility of confrontation between SAF and RSF forces" introducing fears of a wider conflict. In the evening of 14 April 2023, RSF forces assaulted the Khartoum International Airport, a military base, and the presidential palace. The fighting spread from Khartoum into its suburbs, primarily Omdurman where its bridge on the White Nile was largely captured by the RSF forces.

By 28 April, there had been more than 500 civilian deaths in Khartoum, including an Indian citizen, an Iraqi citizen, an Egyptian civilian, and a Sudanese-American man travelling with his family.

The battle has been marked by grueling urban warfare.

Battle

15–17 April 2023

In the early hours of the morning of 15 April 2023, Pro-RSF forces initiated a series of assaults on key installations in Khartoum, including the Khartoum International Airport. During the attack on the airport, the RSF reportedly fired on a Saudia airliner which was arriving at the airport, but no casualties were reported among the aircraft's passengers and crew. The RSF also captured the presidential palace, the residence of former Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir, and attacked a military base. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, more commonly known as Hemedti, the commander of the RSF, claimed that his forces controlled most of the city's government buildings. This claim was disputed by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the de facto leader of the Sudanese government.

The same day, several aerial attacks towards the RSF targets were conducted by the SAF. Users on Facebook Live and Twitter documented the Sudanese Air Force flying above the city, and striking the RSF targets.

On 16 April, the Armed Forces claimed to have re-captured the presidential palace, a claim disputed by the RSF who posted a video on Twitter of their continued presence in the palace amidst ongoing fighting. The RSF also disputed claims that several other buildings had been captured by the Armed Forces. Al Jazeera and Outlook India also reported large-scale combat in Omdurman, Khartoum's sister city. On 16 April, the World Food Programme declared its intent to withdraw from Khartoum, after three WFP staffers were killed during fighting in the city.

On 17 April, the Sudanese government announced the closure of Sudan's airspace, initially limited solely to that of Khartoum. Aidan O'Hara, the European Union ambassador to Sudan, was assaulted at his Khartoum home where he had been sheltering. The EU declared the attack, "a gross violation of the 1961 Vienna Convention." The same day, a U.S. diplomatic convoy was fired upon in an incident labeled as "reckless" by Antony Blinken. General al-Burhan declared the Rapid Support Forces a "rebel group", and ordered their nationwide dissolution. RSF forces also besieged and shelled a large hospital in the city.

18–21 April 2023 
On 18 April, as a ceasefire agreement was announced, heavy fighting in Khartoum continued with warplanes flying through the capital, launching strikes against what appeared to be RSF targets. The RSF used air defense systems and heavy artillery to repel SAF attacks. Reporters said armed personnel had entered several hospitals in Khartoum. Medical facilities have also reported a shortage of medical personnel, electricity, and water.

On 19 April, battles continued in Khartoum near the army headquarters, the presidential palace, and the airport, with heavy weapons used. The Sudanese Army said it was attacked by the RSF at its general command headquarters, but had repelled the attack, inflicting "heavy losses" on the RSF, which had reportedly abandoned 24 vehicles. The SAF called on RSF forces to surrender with the promise of pardons. Observers determined that the army was controlling access to Khartoum and trying to cut off supply routes to RSF fighters. Witnesses said the army reinforcements were brought in from near the eastern border with Ethiopia.

When another ceasefire was announced to begin at 18:00 local time, fighting was reported to have mostly subsided around Khartoum airport, but continued to be intense around the Presidential Palace, army headquarters, and in the Jabra neighborhood in western Khartoum, where houses belonging to RSF leader Dagalo and his family were located. Fighting was reported to have continued several minutes after the start of the ceasefire.

On 20 April, the RSF said it repelled a SAF attack on its positions in Omdurman in the morning despite an ongoing ceasefire, shooting down two helicopters in the process. RSF forces approaching Khartoum were reportedly blocked by the Sudanese army's air and ground forces. Thousands of Khartoum civilians were reported to have left the city, destined mainly for Chad where an estimated 20,000 refugees from all over the country were reported to have crossed into.

On 21 April, a Eid al-Fitr ceasefire was declared by both armies after a number of countries had proposed so, The ceasefire was reported to have been broken after street battles were reported. Several attacks were also reported in Khartoum North (Bahri) by Al Jazeera expanding the battle even further.

22–25 April 2023 
Clashes continued into 22 April and indiscriminate shelling was reported in the Ombada and Karari neighborhoods of Khartoum. Fighting spread from of the heart of the capital, into the adjacent neighborhoods of Hillat Hamad, Khojaly, and Arkaweet. The SAF was reportedly preparing for intensified urban warfare in Khartoum. The RSF claimed that the SAF attacked its positions in Bahri (also known as Khartoum North), purportedly killing dozens. Heavy fighting was also reported near the presidential palace and airport where RSF fighters fought against the Sudanese military for control of the two sites. A force of around 100 U.S. special operations troops flew from Djibouti and carried out an evacuation of the American embassy in Khartoum. The United Kingdom, Germany, and other nations also began the initial stages of evacuating of diplomats and nationals in Khartoum.

On 23 April, clashes and explosions occurred around the military headquarters and presidential palace in Khartoum. Foreign evacuation efforts of foreign diplomats continued with a French diplomatic convoy coming under fire. Sudan also reported internet outage all across the country worsening the humanitarian crisis. Simultaneously, the SAF announced that it was launching numerous airstrikes in an effort to flush out the RSF from Khartoum and Omdurman as fierce street fighting was continued between RSF and the Sudanese military. The presidential palace was reportedly contested despite claims that the army had secured it from the rebels that had occupied it.

On 25 April, Nima Saeed Abid, the WHO representative in Sudan, said that one side in the Sudan conflict had seized control of a national health lab in Khartoum that held biological materials including polio, measles, and cholera isolates, and that the group had ejected all of the technicians. WHO officials did not specify which group had taken over the lab.

May 2023 
On 9 May, the RSF accused the SAF of carrying out an air strike that destroyed the Old Republican Palace, which the latter denied. Pictures sent to the BBC by a Khartoum resident appeared to contradict the RSF's claims of the destruction of the old Presidential Palace but showed the offices in the New Republican Palace appearing to have been severely damaged by a fire. On 10 May, residents in Omdurman said that artillery shells struck The Mahdi's tomb and that widespread looting took place at the Libyan Souq. 

The RSF tried to advance towards the Wadi Seidna Air Base, north of the capital. RSF fighters in about 20 trucks positioned east of the Nile were trying to cross a bridge to reach the airfield, but were met by heavy artillery from the SAF.

On 31 May, the Sudanese Doctors' Union said that at least 18 people were killed and more than 100 others were wounded after rockets hit a market in Mayo, south of Khartoum.

June 2023 
On 1 June, shelling killed 27 people in a poor area of Khartoum. On 5 June, the battle reached its eighth week, with clashes in southern Khartoum. Looting has also been common. That day, a massive fire engulfed an arms factory amid intense fighting. On 17 June, an airstrike in Khartoum destroyed multiple houses and killed at least 17 civilians, including 5 children.

On 18 June, a 72-hour ceasefire took effect, reportedly bringing "a lull" in fighting in Khartoum. The two sides have said they would refrain from military action and allow for delivery of humanitarian aid, according to mediators from Saudi Arabia and the United States.

On 20 June, the headquarters of the Sudanese intelligence agency caught fire. The SAF accused the RSF of shelling the building, while the RSF said its destruction was the result of an SAF drone attack on an RSF position.

On 25 June, the RSF claimed to have seized the headquarters of the Police Central Reserve Forces. The SAF said the RSF lost 400 men in the battle, while activists said 14 civilians were killed.

July 2023 
Between 22 and 31 people were killed in an SAF airstrike on the Dar es Salaam district of Omdurman on 8 July.

Humanitarian impact

Civilian evacuations and warnings 

Hours after the clashes began, evacuation orders were issued for civilians, politicians, and embassy workers. The US Embassy in Sudan urged US citizens in Sudan to seek shelter, as no plan of evacuation had been detailed. The Sudanese Air Force advised the millions of citizens to seek shelter immediately or stay at home. On 16 April 2023, a water crisis emerged in Khartoum, which worsened after the RSF urged civilians to evacuate the city. On 21 April, Indonesia evacuated 43 of its citizens to its embassy in Khartoum after an Indonesian citizen was injured by a bullet.

On 23 April, the United States managed to evacuate fewer than 100 of its citizens from Khartoum by three Chinook helicopters which landed near the US embassy. The operation included 100 US troops from the Navy SEALs and Army Special Forces who flew from Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti to Ethiopia and then into Sudan. On the same day, the Department of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines announced the suspension of all flights to Sudan to ensure the safety of its citizens and raised alerts to level 3 after a Filipino had been hit by a stray bullet in Khartoum. The Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation was used as shelter for civilians.

Civilian deaths 
As of 16 April 2023, at least 45 deaths had been reported in Khartoum. Two Sudanese civilians at Khartoum International Airport were among the first reported, with 38 more deaths later reported during clashes in the city.

References

Battles of the 2023 Sudan conflict
Battle
April 2023 events in Sudan
May 2023 events in Sudan
Battles in 2023
Battles involving Sudan