SAF–RSF fighting erupts in Khartoum
On 15 April 2023, armed fighting erupted in Khartoum between units of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) loyal to Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and units of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) loyal to Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti). In the causal graph this event sets in motion Hemedti RSF war, a driver that weakens Having a say in government — a worsening welfare path.
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On 15 April 2023, armed fighting erupted in Khartoum between units of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) loyal to Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and units of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) loyal to Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti). The United Nations Security Council issued press statement SC/15257 the same day, expressing deep concern over military clashes between SAF and RSF and urging the parties to cease hostilities and return to dialogue (https://press.un.org/en/2023/sc15257.doc.htm (opens in a new tab)). The UN Secretary-General’s spokesperson, also on 15 April, called on RSF and SAF leaders to cease hostilities and recorded that António Guterres spoke to both commanders (https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/04/1135702 (opens in a new tab)). This Fact is that completed outbreak in the capital on that date. It is a recorded action. First-shot authorship is contested by the two commands. First-day casualty tallies from doctors’ groups, later UN figures, and later wire updates disagree; this page does not invent a unique integer or average those instruments.
Context
Sudan had been under a military-led transition after the 2019 ouster of Omar al-Bashir and the October 2021 coup. Burhan chaired the Sovereign Council. Hemedti, as RSF commander, was his deputy on that council. A framework deal with civilian parties had been delayed by a dispute over how and when RSF would integrate into SAF. Those talks are neighbouring.
On the morning of 15 April 2023, fighting that residents and wires located first around military sites in Khartoum spread to the presidential palace, the army headquarters area, the state broadcaster, and Khartoum International Airport. RSF claimed to have seized several of those sites and airfields including Merowe, El Obeid, and El Fasher. SAF rejected those claims. Each side accused the other of firing first. Reuters quoted Burhan on Al Jazeera telling RSF to turn its troops back from Khartoum. The Associated Press and BBC recorded the same day’s street fighting and the same contested site claims (https://apnews.com/article/sudan-khartoum-firing-coup-deal-85464b8f9b7eaf1f7ec77eb7337d7881 (opens in a new tab); https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-65284945 (opens in a new tab)).
António Guterres, through his spokesperson, condemned the outbreak and spoke to Burhan and Hemedti on 15 April, and also to Egypt’s president and African Union Commission Chair Moussa Faki Mahamat. The AU Peace and Security Council, at its 1149th meeting on 16 April 2023, condemned the armed confrontation and demanded an immediate ceasefire (ReliefWeb republication of PSC/PR/COMM.1149: https://reliefweb.int/report/sudan/communique-adopted-peace-and-security-council-psc-african-union-au-its-1149th-meeting-held-16-april-2023-briefing-situation-sudan (opens in a new tab)). They corroborate that fighting had begun on 15 April.
Live people referenced here, not minted: Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo ; Abdel Fattah al-Burhan ; António Guterres. The attach path is the live driver Hemedti RSF war.
Keep 15 April 2023 Khartoum onset separate from the 3 June 2019 sit-in dispersal, from later Jeddah civilian-protection text, from El Geneina 2023 reporting, and from the 2024–2025 El Fasher siege-and-capture file. Those are other dates.
RSF command can move columns into Khartoum. SAF command can order air activity over the capital. Neither office writes SC/15257, a Reuters dispatch, or an AU PSC communiqué.
Why it matters
The outbreak converted a stalled security-sector integration dispute into open war inside the capital. It is the dated start of the SAF–RSF war that subsequent humanitarian, atrocity, and mediation Facts inherit.
Who was responsible
Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.
No public contributors are listed for this fact.
What changed
Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.
- FactSAF–RSF fighting erupts in Khartoum
- sets in motionDriverHemedti RSF war
- weakensIndicatorHaving a say in government
impact weight 1 · Effect from 15 April 2023 · verified
Completed 15 April 2023 SAF–RSF fighting in Khartoum is a dated initiation of the live RSF-war driver. First-shot claims remain contested. No unique casualty integer is stored as a size.
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 normalTwo readings: 30.2% of population aged 16-65 years (2021) and 29.8% of population aged 16-65 years (2023).
20212023 Above normal = better
Evidence
The sources behind this fact and its verification state.
- 1.Security Council press statement on clashes in Sudan (SC/15257), 15 April 2023UN Security Council / UN Meetings Coverage · High credibility · verified
- 2.Reuters — SAF–RSF clashes erupt in Khartoum, 15 April 2023Reuters · High credibility · verified
What the sources establish
Reuters, reporting from Khartoum the same day, recorded gunfire and explosions across the capital, armoured vehicles on the streets, and competing claims over the presidential palace, army headquarters, state television, and Khartoum airport (https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/heavy-gunfire-heard-south-sudanese-capital-khartoum-witnesses-2023-04-15/ (opens in a new tab)).
UN Security Council / UN Meetings Coverage carries the official instrument or communique. Reuters records the same dated act independently.
Established: On 15 April 2023 SAF and RSF fought in Khartoum. The Security Council issued SC/15257 that day. Reuters recorded the fighting and contested control claims the same day. Guterres, through his spokesperson, called both commanders to cease hostilities. First-shot claims are contested. Doctors’ first-day tallies and later UN tallies are neighbouring and do not agree.
Burhan commanded SAF. Guterres issued a same-day ceasefire call and spoke to both. Command of a force that fought in Khartoum is not authorship of the Security Council press statement.. 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, not a later speech about SAF–RSF fighting erupts in Khartoum.
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 Hemedti commanded RSF on 15 April 2023. Burhan commanded SAF. 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.
- FactSAF–RSF fighting erupts in Khartoum
- sets in motionDriverHemedti RSF war
- weakensIndicatorHaving a say in government
Cite this page
Factrail. (2026). SAF–RSF fighting erupts in Khartoum. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/sd-khartoum-fighting-onset-2023-04-15
https://factrail.ai/facts/sd-khartoum-fighting-onset-2023-04-15
Accessed 15 October 2026.
By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed
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