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After three years of war, Sudan army and RSF locked in military impasse

After three years of war, Sudan army and RSF locked in military impasse

Sudan’s war has entered its fourth year, but there is little indication the conflict will end any time soon, as the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are locked in battle for control of the North African nation. Life has gradually returned to a fragile state of near-normalcy in the capital, Khartoum, and central regions after the army regained control of the regions. However, this relative stability has been accompanied by a sense of unsettling uncertainty, as economic and living conditions continue to deteriorate, the military deadlock persists in the Kordofan region, and the humanitarian crisis in Darfur has worsened. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list On the ground, the conflict has created a clear division between eastern and western Sudan, with the Sudanese army controlling the northern, central and eastern states, as well as the capital. Meanwhile, the RSF controls Darfur and large parts of the three Kordofan states, and has also opened a new front in the Blue Nile region along the border with Ethiopia. On May 20 of last year, the Sudanese army recaptured Khartoum State from the RSF forces after more than two years of fighting, marking one of the biggest military developments of the year. Earlier, on January 11, 2025, the army also retook Wad Madani, the capital of Gezira State. It then expanded its advances by pushing RSF forces out of northern White Nile State, breaking the siege on el-Obeid in North Kordofan in February 2025, and regaining Kadugli and Dilling in South Kordofan by last February. The army retook Bara, the second-largest city in North Kordofan, in March. Ibrahim Mohamed Ishaq, 35, a Sudanese refugee father from al-Fashir, rides on a motorised cart with his wife Fatima Abdul Karim, 25, and their daughters Eman, 5, and Eilaf, 3, as they flee ongoing clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese army, arriving at the entrance city of Tine in eastern Chad, on November 22, 2025 [File: Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters] What gains have the RSF made? Despite the army’s achievements, the RSF made significant military progress as well. Most notable is their capture of el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, on October 26 of last year after a two-year siege. This allowed it to consolidate control over most of the region, except for three northern regions still held by the army and joint forces, as well as areas controlled by the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) armed group led by Abdel Wahid al-Nur. Advertisement Emboldened by the fall of el-Fasher, the RSF advanced towards Babnusa in West Kordofan later in December 2025. This came shortly before the army withdrew from the Heglig oil region, the country’s largest oilfield in West Kordofan, resulting in the state in effect falling under RSF control. RSF forces remain present in scattered areas of North Kordofan, including Umm Qarfah, Jabra al-Sheikh, Umm Badr, Hamra al-Sheikh, and Sodari. They are also active in parts of South Kordofan, particularly in Al Quoz, Al-Hamadi and Al Dibibat. By the end of the third year, the conflict had spread to eastern Sudan. And with the joint force of the RSF and SPLM-North, the city of Kurmuk in Blue Nile State was captured in March of last year. This prompted the Sudanese government to accuse Ethiopia of providing military and logistical support – an accusation they have since denied. The nature of the war has also evolved in recent months. The RSF has increasingly been relying on drones to strike targets in central and northern Sudan. In response, the army has acquired new drones, enabling it to target supply lines, eliminate several RSF leaders and destroy their military equipment. The human cost of the war On the humanitarian front, the war has reached catastrophic levels. A joint report by the International Committee of the Red Cross, UNICEF, and Intersos found that about 14 million people have been displaced over three years. Simultaneously, 26 million people face acute food insecurity, while 33.7 million require humanitarian assistance, including 7.4 million people internally displaced. The Norwegian Refugee Council reports that most families have been forced to reduce their daily meals due to worsening economic conditions and loss of income. In Khartoum, prices of fuel, bread, goods and services have risen sharply in recent days. This has coincided with the depreciation of the Sudanese pound, with the US dollar now worth about 600 pounds. Despite some improvements in security in certain areas, the International Organization for Migration reports that about 3.99 million people had returned to their homes as of April, mainly to Khartoum and Gezira. Of these, 83 percent are internally displaced people and 17 percent returned from abroad. More than 13 million people remain displaced or refugees, including about nine million within the country. Saddam Najwa, a malnourished, 17-month-old internally displaced child reaches out for a cup of water at the paediatric ward of the Mother of Mercy Hospital in Gidel, near Kauda, within the Sudan’s People Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) controlled area of the Nuba Mountains, South Kordofan, Sudan, on June 25, 2024 [File: Thomas Mukoya/Reuters] In Khartoum The appointment of Kamil El-Tayeb Idris as prime minister in May 2025 was a major development politically, as was the formation of a civilian government. Advertisement This marked the first such step since Abdalla Hamdok’s resignation in January 2022, following the collapse of political consensus after Army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan dissolved the transitional government in 2021. The 2021 coup disrupted the democratic transition process established after the fall of long-term leader Omar al-Bashir in 2019 following a mass uprising. In January of this year, the government officially returned to Khartoum after operating from Port Sudan as a temporary capital since August 2023. The war erupted on April 15, 2023, over a power struggle between the army and the RSF. Despite this, international and regional efforts to end the war have only stalled. The Quadrilateral Initiative – the United States, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates – has

Turkiye’s Roketsan eyes top 10 exporter rank amid Middle East conflict

Turkiye’s Roketsan eyes top 10 exporter rank amid Middle East conflict

Modern warfare has dramatically changed as we have seen from the Russia-Ukraine war, conflicts involving Gaza, India and Pakistan, and the recent US-Israeli strikes on Iran. At the centre of this shift is a surging global reliance on drone and missile technology as well as advanced air defence systems. Turkiye, one of the largest military powers in the Middle East, is increasingly positioning itself as a major supplier in the global defence sector. Central to this effort is Roketsan, a company founded in 1988 to supply the Turkish Armed Forces, which has since evolved into the country’s primary manufacturer of missile and rocket systems. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list Currently exporting to approximately 50 countries, the firm is one of the fastest-growing defence companies globally. So how did Roketsan secure a large share of the global arms trade? Bypassing Western embargoes Turkiye’s defence expansion was largely accelerated by restrictions placed upon it. Western embargoes aimed at halting its military advancement meant Ankara could not acquire the necessary technical systems or components. In 2020, the United States imposed Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) restrictions on Turkiye – a key member of the transatlantic military alliance NATO. These sanctions targeted Turkiye’s military procurement agency, its chief Ismail Demir, and three other senior officials. Washington also ejected Ankara from the F-35 stealth jet programme in July 2019. The measures came after Ankara purchased Russia’s S-400 missile defence system, which was seen as a potential threat to NATO security. The European Union also prepared limited sanctions and discussed restricting arms exports following energy exploration disputes in the Eastern Mediterranean. Advertisement To circumvent this, the country built an integrated, domestic defence ecosystem. Today, Turkiye relies on a vast supply chain of nearly 4,000 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) scattered across the country. As a result, the Turkish defence industry now operates with a local production rate exceeding 90 percent. Türkiye’s defence industry now operates with a local production rate exceeding 90 percent, bypassing long-standing Western embargoes [Al Jazeera] This shift has yielded significant financial returns for Ankara. In 2025, Turkiye’s defence industry reported $10bn in exports. Roketsan’s General Manager Murat Ikinci told Al Jazeera that the company currently ranks 71st among global defence firms, with ambitions to break into the top 50, then the top 20, and ultimately the top 10. To support this expansion, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan inaugurated several large-scale facilities last week, including: Europe’s largest warhead facility. new research and development (R&D) centre housing 1,000 engineers. the “Kirikkale” facility dedicated to rocket fuel technology. new infrastructure for the mass production of ballistic and cruise missiles. These projects represent a $1bn investment, with the company planning to inject an additional $2bn to expand mass production capabilities. The ‘Tayfun’ and modern warfare Roketsan’s R&D strategy – which employs 3,200 engineers and makes the company the third-largest R&D institution in Turkiye – is heavily influenced by data gathered from ongoing global conflicts. According to Ikinci, the war in Ukraine highlighted the impact of cheap, first-person view (FPV) and kamikaze drones supported by artificial intelligence. In response, Roketsan developed air defence systems like “ALKA” and “BURC,” alongside the “CIRIT” laser-guided missile. The regional landscape was further complicated during the US-Israel war on Iran, as cheap Iranian-designed Shahed drones – recently upgraded by Russia with “Kometa-B” anti-jamming modules – overwhelmed defences and even struck a British base in Cyprus in March 2026. During the same month, NATO air defences were forced to intercept three Iranian ballistic missiles that entered Turkish airspace. Meanwhile, the recent conflict between Israel and Iran showcased the use of complex attacks combining ballistic missiles with “swarms” of kamikaze drones designed to overwhelm air defences. This environment makes hypersonic technology a critical asset. This brings the Tayfun (Typhoon) project into focus. Tayfun is a developing family of long-range ballistic missiles. Its most advanced iteration, the Tayfun Block 4, is a hypersonic missile engineered to penetrate advanced air defence systems by travelling at extreme speeds. Advertisement When Al Jazeera asked for specific details regarding the Tayfun’s exact operational range, Ikinci was elusive. “We avoid mentioning its range; we just say its range is sufficient,” he noted. Similarly, historical Western sanctions have pushed Turkiye to form new cooperation initiatives, effectively accelerating an “Eastern shift” away from Western defence dependence. Turkish drones are now being used by a growing number of countries, including by Pakistan during its war against India last May. Based on these threat assessments, Roketsan has prioritised five key areas of production: long-range ballistic and cruise missiles. air defence systems, including the “Steel Dome”, Hisar-A, Hisar-O, and Siper. submarine-launched cruise missiles, utilising the AKYA system to leverage Turkiye’s large submarine fleet. smart micro-munitions designed specifically for armed drones. long-range air-to-air missiles, a need highlighted by the brief India-Pakistan skirmish. A strategic export model Unlike traditional arms procurement, Turkiye is marketing its defence industry to international buyers as a strategic partnership. “Our offer to our partners… is as follows: Let’s produce together, let’s develop technology together,” Ikinci stated. Rokestan’s General Manager Murat İkinci, right, emphasises that Roketsan’s international strategy is based on ‘partnership models’ rather than simple sales [Al Jazeera] By establishing joint facilities and R&D centres in allied nations across the Middle East, the Far East, and Europe, Turkiye is attempting to secure long-term geopolitical alliances rather than purely transactional sales. Ikinci highlighted Qatar as a prime example of this model, describing it as a benchmark for technological, military, and security cooperation in the region. Filling the global stockpile gap This rapid expansion comes at a critical time for the global arms trade. Ongoing wars have severely depleted the stockpiles of advanced weapon systems worldwide. During the recent US-Israel war on Iran, Washington relied heavily on multimillion-dollar Patriot and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) systems to intercept cheap Iranian drones targeting US assets across Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. With growing concerns that US interceptor supplies could run low, Gulf states

US strike on Pacific vessel kills three

US strike on Pacific vessel kills three

NewsFeed US military footage released Wednesday shows its latest strike on a vessel in the eastern Pacific, killing three people the US accused of “narco-trafficking”. The attack follows a wave of deadly strikes on vessels in the region that rights groups have blasted as “extrajudicial killings”. Published On 16 Apr 202616 Apr 2026 Click here to share on social media share-nodes Share googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Adblock test (Why?)