April 15, 2023 – Present · Khartoum Theater

Fighting erupted simultaneously across Khartoum on April 15, 2023, as RSF fighters — pre-positioned inside SAF bases and civilian neighborhoods — clashed with army units. The RSF seized control of the presidential palace, the state broadcaster, and major roads within hours. The SAF responded with airstrikes on RSF positions in residential areas of the capital. Khartoum International Airport became a contested battleground. Within weeks, the city of 6 million — once a functioning metropolitan center with cafes, universities, and a thriving civil society — was transformed into a combat zone.

April 2023 – 2024 · Khartoum (Omdurman) Theater

Omdurman — the historic twin city to Khartoum, site of Kitchener's decisive 1898 battle — became one of the primary RSF strongholds. RSF fighters moved through civilian neighborhoods, establishing firing positions in homes and mosques. SAF airstrikes hit RSF positions but caused widespread civilian casualties. The RSF's control of Omdurman's commercial and residential heart gave them a chokehold on supply routes into Khartoum. Over 500,000 people fled Omdurman's metropolitan area in the first three months.

April 2023 – Present · North Darfur Theater

El Fasher — capital of North Darfur and home to nearly a million people including massive internally displaced populations from the 2003–08 genocide — became the last major city in Darfur not controlled by the RSF. The UN repeatedly warned that an RSF assault on El Fasher would produce a bloodbath, as the city sheltered Masalit, Fur, and Zaghawa civilians who had survived earlier RSF atrocities elsewhere in Darfur. SAF forces and an unlikely coalition of Darfuri armed movements held the city perimeter against repeated RSF assaults, supported by SAF airstrikes. The siege became one of the war's most closely watched battles from a humanitarian standpoint.

April – December 2023 · Darfur Theater

Simultaneous with the Khartoum fighting, RSF forces and Arab tribal militias swept across Darfur, overrunning SAF garrisons and attacking non-Arab African communities — the Masalit, Fur, and Zaghawa peoples targeted in the 2003–08 Darfur genocide. In El Geneina, capital of West Darfur and home to 500,000 people, the RSF and allied militias conducted systematic massacres, mass rape, and ethnic cleansing. Governor Khamis Abbakar was captured on video and then executed. Over a million people were displaced from Darfur's five states.

May – August 2023 · Red Sea Coast Theater

Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast became the SAF's wartime capital and primary logistics lifeline after the fall of Khartoum. The SAF worked to secure the port city and its supply lines against RSF infiltration and raids that sought to cut the government's last major entry point for arms and supplies. Egyptian military aid arrived through Port Sudan; the city became headquarters for the SAF high command, foreign diplomatic missions, and what remained of the Sudanese civilian government. Sporadic RSF attacks on road corridors leading inland were repelled.

June 2023 · West Darfur Theater

El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur and a city of approximately 500,000 people, was the site of one of the war's worst atrocities. RSF forces and Arab tribal militias swept through the city's non-Arab Masalit neighborhoods with systematic violence — shooting men in the streets, committing mass rape, burning homes, and forcing mass displacement toward Chad. Governor Khamis Abbakar was captured during the fighting and executed on video while calling for international help. UN investigators documented tens of thousands of killings — estimates range from 10,000 to 15,000 dead in the greater West Darfur violence — with patterns constituting genocide.

August – September 2023 · North Darfur Theater

Following the capture of Nyala and El Geneina, RSF forces pushed northward through North Darfur State, seizing towns and overrunning SAF outposts. The advance threatened El Fasher and brought RSF supply lines closer to Libya's border, through which arms and fuel were flowing via Haftar-aligned factions. Armed movements loyal to Minni Minnawi coordinated with the SAF to establish defensive lines around El Fasher. The RSF advance was slowed by stiffening resistance from a coalition of SAF regulars, SLM fighters, and local self-defense forces.

August 2023 · Sennar State Theater

The RSF's advance into Sennar State in August 2023 was part of its broader strategy to encircle SAF-held areas along the Nile corridor and threaten supply lines between Port Sudan and the north. Sennar, located on the Blue Nile and historically important as a medieval sultanate capital, fell to RSF columns that moved rapidly from Darfur through Kordofan. The SAF's defensive posture was inadequate for the speed and direction of the RSF advance. The city's fall opened the Blue Nile valley to potential RSF exploitation.

October 2023 · South Darfur Theater

Nyala, Sudan's third-largest city and the capital of South Darfur State, fell to RSF forces in October 2023 after weeks of fighting. The RSF overran SAF positions in the city using its standard tactics of encirclement by mobile columns and denial of resupply. The fall of Nyala effectively completed RSF control over most of Darfur outside El Fasher. The city's civilian population — including hundreds of thousands of displaced people sheltering in camps from the 2003–08 genocide — was subjected to looting, violence, and ethnic targeting. International aid agencies were forced to evacuate.

September 2024 – Present · North Khartoum / Nile Corridor Theater

With Egyptian military support, Iranian-supplied drones, and resupplied artillery, the SAF launched a significant counteroffensive in late 2024 to recapture northern Khartoum and reopen the Nile corridor. The offensive made gains in Khartoum North and Bahri district, pushing RSF forces back several kilometers in some sectors. Bridges over the Nile became key objectives. The SAF made effective use of Iranian Shahed-136 drones — the same technology Russia was using against Ukraine — for precision strikes against RSF positions.