Nearly a month since the outbreak of war between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), neither side has been able to achieve a decisive victory to end the battle.
According to witnesses, while the RSF has control on the ground, the army controls the sky, and each side has asserted that they can defeat the other and assume sole authority over the conflict zone.
Amid these allegations, a fierce psychological war is taking place through various media platforms. However, most of the propaganda is being exposed as false by “young activists” who are working to uncover fabricated information that is creating confusion among the people.
Asharq Al-Awsat spoke to several journalists, most of whom agreed that the RSF controls the ground, contrary to claims by the army’s war propaganda.
In northern Khartoum, a journalist said the RSF were still holding areas under their control and were expanding their deployment.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a journalist working for a prominent satellite channel, said: “There has been no real change on the ground since the first days of the war.”
“The RSF still control the area extending from Al-Mek Nimr Bridge to the South, including the outskirts of the oil refinery in Qarri, about 50 kilometers from the city center,” he added.
In southern Khartoum, a female journalist said the RSF still control most of the areas, especially Al-Sittine Street, the airport neighborhood, the buildings of the Security and Intelligence Service, and part of the General Command of the Army. She added that the forces took almost complete control over the neighborhoods of Khartoum 2, Al-Sahafat, and Jabrat.
“There are no real battles between the RSF and army. Skirmishes only take place here and there, but they do not change the situation,” she noted.
The army has acknowledged – based on previous statements by its commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan - that the RSF control the presidential palace, the cabinet, central Khartoum, and a number of other locations.
Since the eruption of the fighting on April 15, army warplanes regularly attacks the sites and control centers of the RSF in spite the military’s announcement that it had destroyed them and cut off the lines of supply and communication.
The journalists interviewed by Asharq Al-Awsat expressed their surprise at the continuation of the fighting throughout this period, and the failure of the two parties to find a solution.
While they stressed that a successful settlement in favor of any of the two parties was no longer “possible”, they called them to return to reason and reach a settlement through the Jeddah negotiations in order to protect the country’s remaining people and resources.
