2023-06-26 23:49:36
At a time when it is seeking to achieve gains in its war with the army, the Rapid Support Forces’ announcement of seizing the leadership of the Central Reserve Forces south of the capital, Khartoum, raised questions regarding the importance of these forces and their camp, and whether its seizure would change the military situation in the Sudanese capital.
Fierce fighting has been raging in Khartoum, Bahri and Omdurman, the three cities that make up the greater capital region, since Saturday evening, as the conflict between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces entered its eleventh week.
The Sudanese capital and the city of El Geneina are the most affected by the conflict that erupted on April 15th
The army has been deploying the central police reserve forces for weeks to conduct field operations, and these forces have previously been used to carry out operations in several regions and to confront protesters who demonstrated once morest the 2021 coup.
On Sunday, the Rapid Support Forces released footage of its fighters inside the facility, some of whom were taking out boxes of ammunition from a warehouse.
Researcher Muhyiddin Muhammad, who is close to the army, told Al-Hurra that “the Rapid Support Forces did indeed enter the camp on Sunday, but the battles are still going on.”
He added, “This camp is affiliated with the police and not a military force, but they targeted it as a soft spot and not like army camps or like the Engineers or Armored Corps.”
However, the retired police major general, Abdeen al-Taher, said in statements to “Radio Sawa”, that these forces were established with the aim of bridging operations within cities that need professionalism and high specialization to resolve tribal clashes and illegal gatherings, adding that they are police forces with very high capabilities and skills.
He stressed that the employees of those forces received training in a number of countries, especially Egypt, adding that they were present with the armed forces in some locations during the ongoing battles.
He added, “It is natural, according to the laws, for the police forces in such cases to be affiliated with the armed forces, by a decision issued by the commander of the armed forces, and to become part of the military operations.”
According to Agence France-Presse, at least 14 people were killed in battles around the headquarters of the Central Reserve.
The importance of camp
Al-Taher said that this camp is very large and fortified, and it is well-equipped and prepared, in addition to that it contains special equipment.
He added that the camp is located in the south of the capital, which constitutes a protection for the armed forces from the southern forces
He considered that the RSF’s insistence on attacking this camp is their conviction that the presence of this camp limits their activity and prevents their entry from the southern side, while they are fully aware of the capabilities of these forces.
Muhammad indicates that the camp is located on the road linking the main camp of the Rapid Support Forces in Taiba, south of Khartoum, and the army camps in central Khartoum.
Muhammad told the “Al-Hurra” website, “The army struck the headquarters of the Rapid Support Forces in Khartoum in Taiba at the beginning of the battles, so they seized the sports city, so the army bombed them there, and they became without a headquarters, and therefore they wanted the central reserve camp to take it as a strategic starting point in the south of Khartoum.” “.
He added, “It seems that the Rapid Support Forces have a problem with ammunition, and they found that this camp might solve the supply dilemma for them, but I think that this will not give them a qualitative advantage because the armored vehicles there are light and are used to disperse riots, not war.”
The Rapid Support Forces stated that they confiscated 160 fully armed vehicles, 75 armored personnel carriers and 27 tanks.
The fighting, since its outbreak in mid-April, has killed 2,800 people, according to the non-governmental organization ACLED, and 2.5 million Sudanese have been internally displaced or sought refuge in neighboring countries, according to the United Nations.
But the toll is likely to be much higher because neither of the warring parties has issued official statements regarding their losses, and many corpses are still scattered in the streets of Khartoum or Darfur in the west of the country at the border with Chad, where the fiercest confrontations are taking place.
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