The Sudanese army advances in the middle of Al-Jazeera and a senior commander in the Rapid Support Forces is killed

A field source reported that the Sudanese army was able to retake the city of Al-Maheriba in central Al-Jazeera State, in parallel with reports confirming the killing of a senior commander in the Rapid Support Forces in a drone attack north of Al-Jazeera.

The source confirmed - in a statement to Al Jazeera - that the army was met with fierce resistance by the Rapid Support Forces during the recapture of the city before the army forced them to flee to the city of Al-Kamlin, north of Al-Jazeera.

The source said that the army has begun new military operations to retake the city of Abu Qota in Al-Jazeera and advance towards the city of Jebel Awliya in Khartoum.

General report on the field situation in central Sudan

Map highlights:

The armed forces continue to pursue the Rapid Support Militia on several fronts.
The Rapid Support Militia is rapidly withdrawing from all battle fronts towards the Jebel Awliya Bridge, and from there towards western Sudan.

Audio recordings between militia members revealed to us... pic.twitter.com/3kblUKn986

— VISTA (@VistaMaps) February 3, 2025

On the other hand, an informed military source in the Sudanese army said that a Sudanese army drone killed a senior commander of the Rapid Support Forces in northern Al-Jazeera State this morning by bombing his car.

In the same context, the leader of the Rapid Support Forces, Omar Jibril, announced the killing of Major General Abdullah Hussein, the commander of the Rapid Support Forces in Al-Jazeera State.

The Rapid Support Forces recently suffered military defeats in Khartoum Bahri, Omdurman, and Al-Jazeera State.

Surrender of more than 120 Rapid Support Forces mercenaries to the armed forces in the village of "Al-Adid Umm Ashar" #Sudan #Sudan_is_victorious pic.twitter.com/0iCaSukCLQ

- Sudan News (@Sudan_tweet) February 3, 2025

In addition, the Sudanese army announced, on Monday, that it had repelled an attack by the Rapid Support Forces on the city of El Fasher in North Darfur State, west of the country, amid the continued displacement movement from the city to nearby villages.

According to the official Sudanese News Agency, the army reported that "in cooperation with the joint forces of the armed movements (signatories to the Juba Peace Agreement 2020), today, Monday, the Rapid Support Forces inflicted heavy losses in their attack on the city of El Fasher."

The army stated that it "destroyed 10 combat vehicles (belonging to the Rapid Support Forces) and received 3 others in good condition and fully restored," explaining that "the statistics of the victims of the militia's artillery shelling (the Rapid Support Forces' shelling of El Fasher) yesterday, Sunday, amounted to 67 citizens, including 30 women, 17 children, and 20 men."

International condemnation

In a parallel context, the United Nations condemned yesterday, Sunday, the attacks against civilians across Sudan, including the bombing of a market in Omdurman that killed at least 60 people.

In a statement, the UN Coordinator for Sudan, Clementine Nkweta Salami, described Saturday's attack on the Sabreen Market and residential areas in Omdurman as "horrific" and "indiscriminate."

Activists reported that the Rapid Support Forces carried out artillery shelling targeting the market in Omdurman, which is under the control of the army.

In Khartoum, an airstrike on an area controlled by the Rapid Support Forces killed two civilians and wounded dozens, according to rescue workers.

Nkweta Salami also expressed her regret over reports of the killing of civilians between Thursday and Saturday in North Kordofan State in the south and in Darfur region in the west.

Since mid-April 2023, Sudan has been witnessing a conflict between the army and the Rapid Support Forces, which has so far resulted in the killing of more than 20,000 people and the displacement of about 14 million, according to data from the United Nations and local authorities, while other estimates indicate that the number of victims is much greater than what has been announced.

Source: Al Jazeera + Agencies