The Sudanese Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group has begun attacks on foreign diplomatic missions, with the embassies of China, Saudi Arabia and Palestine all reportedly targeted as well as the private residence of the Omani ambassador. Riyadh responded to the attacks with a statement criticising the “sabotage against diplomatic missions and representations,” and emphasising the need to confront armed groups that were attempting to “undermine the return of security and stability to Sudan and its people.” Several cars belonging to Chinese diplomatic staff were reported to have been hijacked in the attack, as residents of the capital Khartoum have reportedly long widely taken to slashing or removing the tyres on their cars to prevent their theft by the militia. This comes as the paramilitary group as escalated attacks on major military facilities in Khartoum, including the centre of the country’s military industrial manufacturing, in an apparent effort to reverse the tide after repeated significant losses against the Armed Forces.
Since the outbreak of hostilities in Sudan reports have continued to conflict over which side has gained the upper hand, with the Rapid Support Forces reportedly having taken heavy losses to drone strikes and lost considerable territory across the capital, but gained reinforcements from other regions across the country including very large numbers of mercenary fighters from neighbouring Chad. The United Arab Emirates has also been widely reported to have made significant deliveries of new military equipment to the paramilitary group with which it retains close ties, while the Sudanese Armed Forces are not reported to have received any overseas support.Sources on the ground reported heavy losses among the Army’s armoured units in the initial weeks of hostilities, and that the Rapid Support Forces have managed to survive despite inferior firepower by dispersing their assets in civilian areas, using underground garages to hide their vehicles and assets, and widely using civilians as human shields. Sudan has suffered from serious instability ever since European backed mass riots in the capital Khartoum led to the toppling of the administration of President Omar Al Bashir in April 2019, with the security and economic situations having declined consistently since then.