KHARTOUM, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- The armed conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has been escalating, particularly in Khartoum and central and western Sudan, with the two warring parties mobilizing for decisive battles.

In Khartoum, violent clashes erupted on Monday morning between the SAF and the RSF in the Al-Mugran area in central Khartoum.

"Since yesterday (Sunday), the SAF has expanded its operations in the Al-Mugran area, while the clashes have intensified on Monday," a military source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Xinhua.

He noted that the area constitutes a priority for the SAF as controlling it would mean controlling the river navigation at the confluence of the two Niles -- the White Nile and the Blue Nile, not to mention that the area is also a gateway to sovereign centers such as the Republican Palace and the Parliament.

A Xinhua correspondent in Omdurman city, north of Khartoum, said, "Columns of smoke have been rising since Monday morning from central Bahri (north of Khartoum), amid violent explosions from the Shambat and Al-Halfaya neighborhoods of the city."

Warplanes also flew intensive sorties, with the SAF shelling RSF sites in central Bahri from bases in Omdurman, the correspondent noted.

Also on Monday, the Bahri Emergency Room, a local civil society in Khartoum, announced in a statement the evacuation of residents of the city's neighborhoods of Shambat, Al-Halfaya, and Al-Samrab to safety in the East Nile area amid escalating clashes.

For about a week, the SAF has been intensifying its operations in Bahri, controlling large parts of the Al-Samrab area, and advancing towards the Kafouri neighborhood, a stronghold of the RSF, aiming to open the way to the command of the Signal Corps in the far south of the city.

In central Sudan, the SAF is mobilizing its forces from three fronts prior to advancing towards Wad Madani, the capital of Gezira State.

SAF-affiliated units the Special Work Forces on Monday published videos for deployment of combat units south of Gezira in preparation for what it called the "battle to liberate Wad Madani."

The Sudanese army has recently achieved significant progress towards Wad Madani, seizing several areas south of Gezira, according to Abdul-Jalil Ismail, a Sudanese military expert.

"It is clear that there is going to be a decisive battle, through which the army aims to retake Wad Madani," Ismail told Xinhua.

In El Fasher, capital city of North Darfur State in western Sudan, clashes take place almost daily between the SAF and the RSF amid continued exchanges of artillery shelling and drone attacks.

The command of the SAF's 6th Infantry Division in El Fasher said in a statement on Monday that "the situation is stable, our forces are deployed everywhere and are in control, and we repel daily attempts by the militia to enter the city."

For about two weeks, the RSF has continued to shell the Zamzam displacement camp south of El Fasher amid local and international condemnations.

On Monday, the RSF accused the SAF and allied armed movements of attempting "to turn the Zamzam camp into a military barracks" in a statement.

Ibrahim Khatir, director-general of North Darfur State's health ministry, told Xinhua the RSF's repeated and deliberate shelling of the Zamzam camp has killed 73 civilians and injured 377 others.

Fighting between the two warring parties has raged in El Fasher since May 10.

The conflict between the SAF and the RSF, which began in mid-April 2023, has killed more than 28,700 people and displaced over 14 million, according to the latest estimates by international organizations. Enditem

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