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SAF–RSF fighting erupts in Khartoum under Burhan’s army command

On 15 April 2023 fighting erupted in Khartoum between Sudanese Armed Forces units loyal to Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Rapid Support Forces units loyal to Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. Burhan told Al Jazeera the RSF should withdraw troops from Khartoum. In the causal graph this event strengthens Burhan SAF civil war, a driver that weakens Having a say in government — a worsening welfare path.

Sources: [1][2]

Read the full account

On 15 April 2023 fighting erupted in Khartoum between Sudanese Armed Forces units loyal to Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Rapid Support Forces units loyal to Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. Burhan told Al Jazeera the RSF should withdraw troops from Khartoum. Hemedti called him a criminal.

Context

Tensions had risen over RSF integration into SAF after the 2021 coup partnership. Hemedti is unresolved and is a later WAVE F TARGET. IPC famine products and the later RSF siege of El Fasher are neighbouring. They are not a unique size here and are not ukraine-war.

15 April outbreak; 16 April air strikes; BBC/Reuters same-day products. Stored as one 15 April 2023 Fact. Keep SAF–RSF fighting erupts in Khartoum under Burhan’s army command on 2023-04-15 separate from neighbouring Burhan instruments.

The Chairman of Sudan’s Sovereignty Council and commander-in-chief of the Sudanese Armed Forces can dissolve a cabinet on television, order air strikes, and refuse to dissolve SAF. He does not write Human Rights Watch briefing notes, IPC famine classifications, or Reuters first-shot reconstructions.

Why it matters

The path is the owned SAF-civil-war driver: a completed capital war under the army chief who had dissolved the civilian cabinet in 2021.

Who was responsible

Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.

  • Abdel Fattah al-Burhan

    Person

    Direct responsibility

    verified

    He commanded SAF on 15 April 2023. Sharing the outbreak with Hemedti is not a reason to drop the date from his file.

What changed

Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.

    1. FactSAF–RSF fighting erupts in Khartoum under Burhan’s army command
    2. strengthensDriverBurhan SAF civil war
    3. weakensIndicatorHaving a say in government
    Worsening path

    impact weight 1 · Effect from 15 April 2023 · verified

    A completed 2023 SAF–RSF outbreak under army command is a dated strengthening of SAF civil-war command.

    • Having a say in government

      via Burhan SAF civil war

      Worse

      Weakens · Relationship strength 0.8 (weight 1 × strength 0.8)

      Observed

      29.8% of population aged 16-65 years · 8.13 below the normal line (2023)

      Worse than normal

      Two readings: 30.2% of population aged 16-65 years (2021) and 29.8% of population aged 16-65 years (2023).

      20212023

      Above normal = better

    1. FactSAF–RSF fighting erupts in Khartoum under Burhan’s army command
    2. weakensDriverCivic Space
    3. strengthensIndicators (3)Having a say in government
    Worsening path

    impact weight 1 · Effect from 15 April 2023 · verified

    A completed capital war that turns residential districts into battlefields is a dated weakening of civic space.

Evidence

The sources behind this fact and its verification state.

Verified2 sources on file
  1. 1.BBC — army and RSF battle over key Khartoum sites, 15–16 April 2023BBC News · High credibility · verified
  2. 2.Reuters — SAF–RSF clashes erupt in Khartoum, 15 April 2023Reuters · High credibility · verified
What the sources establish

Reuters recorded doctors’ groups and contested first-shot claims; mediators said neither general attended a 10 a.m. meeting.

Reuters carries the official instrument or communique. BBC News records the same dated act independently.

Established: Fighting between SAF and RSF erupted in Khartoum on 15 April 2023. Burhan commanded SAF. First-shot claims are contested.

Not established: A unique first-shot integer, a unique later death census, or that Hemedti is a minted Person row.

Sharing the outbreak with Hemedti is not a reason to drop the date from his file.. A later repeal, court stay, or successor order would be a different Fact with a different date. That pair identifies SAF–RSF fighting erupts in Khartoum under Burhan’s army command, not a later speech about SAF–RSF fighting erupts in Khartoum under Burhan’s army command.

Co-authors and later implementers named in Context remain on the file. If a later repeal, stay, or successor instrument exists, it needs its own date and its own row. The contribution described on this Person row is limited to He commanded SAF on 15 April 2023. That limit is the alternative to treating office-holding as authorship of every later series.

Causal path

How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.

  1. ActorAbdel Fattah al-Burhan
  2. contributed toFactSAF–RSF fighting erupts in Khartoum under Burhan’s army command
  3. strengthensDrivers (2)Burhan SAF civil war
  4. weakensIndicatorHaving a say in government

Cite this page

Factrail. (2026). SAF–RSF fighting erupts in Khartoum under Burhan’s army command. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/sd-burhan-war-2023

https://factrail.ai/facts/sd-burhan-war-2023

Accessed 15 October 2026.

By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed

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