| Siege of Zalingei | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of 2023 Sudan conflict's Darfur campaign | |||||||
 | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
|  Rapid Support Forces (RSF) | ||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
| 21st Infantry Division [1] | Unknown | ||||||
The siege of Zalingei was a siege in the city of Zalingei, Central Darfur, Sudan, during the 2023 Sudan conflict. [2]
Between 17 and 23 May 2023, the Zalingei Teaching Hospital was looted as was the Médecins Sans Frontières warehouse. [3] Telecommunications were also cut off. [4] By 29 May, Zalingei became a new epicentre of the fighting under siege by armed militias. [5] Housing and infrastructure were destroyed. [6] The town reportedly faced medical shortages after looting and attacks by the Rapid Support Forces. [7] In June 2023, the United Nations reported of clashes inside the city. [8]
On 6 August 2023, the RSF claimed they had taken full control of the city and the wider Central Darfur region. [9] The SAF subsequently claimed that it had raised the siege of Zalingei and had retaken the western part of the city from the RSF. [10] On 31 August, Zalingei's SAF garrison, consisting of the 21st Infantry Division, fled the settlement. This allowed the RSF to fully secure the entire city without further opposition. [1]
Zalingei or Zalinjay is a town in Western Sudan, and is capital of the RSF-occupied state of Central Darfur. As of 2009 it had an estimated population of 27,258.
The Sudan People's Liberation Movement–North, or SPLM–N, is a political party and militant organisation in the Republic of Sudan, based in the states of Blue Nile and South Kordofan. The group's armed forces are formally known as the Sudan People's Liberation Army–North or SPLA–N. As of 2017, its two factions, SPLM-N (Agar) and SPLM-N (al-Hilu) were engaged in fighting each other and against the government of Sudan, and as of 2023, the al-Hilu faction is fighting the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), while the leader of the Agar faction was appointed into the military-run government.
The Sudanese conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile was an armed conflict in the Sudanese states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement–North (SPLM-N), a northern affiliate of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) in South Sudan. After some years of relative calm following the 2005 agreement which ended the second Sudanese civil war between the Sudanese government and SPLM rebels, fighting broke out again in the lead-up to South Sudan independence on 9 July 2011, starting in South Kordofan on 5 June and spreading to the neighboring Blue Nile state in September. SPLM-N, splitting from newly independent SPLM, took up arms against the inclusion of the two southern states in Sudan with no popular consultation and against the lack of democratic elections. The conflict is intertwined with the War in Darfur, since in November 2011 SPLM-N established a loose alliance with Darfuri rebels, called Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF).
Central Darfur State is a state in south-western Sudan, and one of five comprising the Darfur region. It was created in January 2012 as a result of the ongoing peace process for the wider Darfur region. The state capital is Zalingei. The state was formed from land that had been part of the states of West Darfur and South Darfur.
The following lists events during 2023 in the Republic of the Sudan.
A civil war between two rival factions of the military government of Sudan, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) under Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) under Hemedti, began during Ramadan on 15 April 2023. Fighting has been concentrated around the capital city of Khartoum and the Darfur region. As of 21 January 2024, at least 13,000–15,000 people had been killed and 33,000 others were injured. As of 29 December 2023, over 5.8 million were internally displaced and more than 1.5 million others had fled the country as refugees, and many civilians in Darfur have been reported dead as part of the 2023 Masalit massacres.
The battle of Khartoum is an ongoing battle for control of Khartoum State between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and the Sudanese Armed Forces. The battle began on 15 April 2023, after the RSF captured Khartoum International Airport, several military bases, and the presidential palace, starting an escalating series of clashes.
The Battle of Geneina, also known as the Geneina massacre, was a battle for control of Geneina, the capital of West Darfur in Sudan, between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). By 25 April 2023, fighting intensified and devolved along tribal lines, with Masalit and non-Arab peoples supporting the SAF and the aligned Joint Darfur Force—consisting of former rebel groups including the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army and the Justice and Equality Movement—against the RSF and allied Arab militias.
The Darfur campaign or Darfur offensive is a theatre of operation in the 2023 war in Sudan that affects five states in Darfur: South Darfur, East Darfur, North Darfur, Central Darfur and West Darfur. The offensive mainly started on 15 April 2023 in West Darfur where the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) forces captured Geneina, the conflict came after several days of high tensions between the forces and the government.
The following is a timeline of the War in Sudan (2023-present).
The Battle of Nyala was a battle for control of Nyala, the capital of South Darfur in Sudan, between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and the Sudanese Armed Forces during the ongoing Darfur campaign. The first battle occurred between 15 and 20 April 2023, during which hundreds were reported dead. A civilian-brokered ceasefire paused the fighting by April 20. Sporadic clashes broke out between May and July. In August 2023, the RSF launched an offensive on the city. The SAF launched air campaigns against the RSF in Nyala, with many civilian casualties in Taiba and El Matar. In late September, the RSF besieged the headquarters the SAF's 16th Infantry Division headquarters, capturing it on October 26.
The Battle of El Fasher is an ongoing battle for control of the town of El Fasher in North Darfur during the 2023 Sudan conflict. The first battle for the city took place between April 15 and April 20, and resulted in a ceasefire that held until May 12. Clashes broke out again between May 12 and 29, and ended with a more stable ceasefire that lasted until August. By September, the city had become a haven for refugees across the region, and was also suffering from food and water shortages.
The siege of El Obeid was a siege in El-Obeid, North Kordofan, Sudan, during the 2023 Sudan conflict. The battle began on April 15, and saw the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) capture the El Obeid airport from the Sudanese Army contingent in the city. Throughout April and May, the Sudanese Army repelled several RSF assaults on the city, although by May 30, the RSF fully surrounded the city and laid siege to it.
The Battle of Kutum was a conflict during the 2023 Sudan conflict which occurred in and around the town of Kutum in North Darfur. The Rapid Support Forces quickly overran the city, and carried out massacres in the city and the neighboring Kassab IDP camp. The group then attacked neighboring villages in early June.
The Battle of Kadugli is an ongoing siege in Kaduqli, South Kordofan State, Sudan, during the 2023 Sudan conflict. It involves two unaligned rebel factions, the SPLM-N and the Rapid Support Forces, that are trying to capture the city from the Sudanese Armed Forces.
Tawila or Tawilah is a town in North Darfur State, Sudan.
Kreinik, or AlKuraynik or Kereneik, is a town located in West Darfur, Sudan, located 50 miles (80 km) east of Geneina.
Mustafa Tambour is the leader of an Sudan Liberation Movement faction known as SLM-Tambour, which is involved in the conflict in Darfur, supporting the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) against the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Before the 2023 Sudan conflict, he launched a community reconciliation initiative to stop the war in Darfur.
Wad Banda is a locality located in West Kordofan, Sudan.
The war in Sudan, which started on 15 April 2023, has seen a widespread of war crimes committed by both the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), with the RSF being singled out by the Human Rights Watch, and the United Kingdom and United States governments for committing crimes against humanity. The conflict was marked by heavy indiscriminate shelling, gunfire, and airstrikes on markets and populated residential neighbourhoods, causing a high number of fatalities. Hospitals were targeted during aerial bombings and artillery fire, and medical supplies were looted. These attacks severely impacted Sudan’s healthcare system, disrupting medical services and leaving the majority of the hospitals in conflict-affected states out of service. The UN declared Sudan the most dangerous country for humanitarian workers after South Sudan.
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