The Ground Forces of the Sudanese Armed Forces Today, Part 2

Part 2 of Dr. Colin Robinson’s review of the Sudanese Armed Forces as of 2023.

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Reorganisation since 2011

Data received in February 2012 made it clear that there had been an extensive reorganization of the force after the independence of South Sudan. At that time there might have been a total of 15+ infantry divisions, the 7th Division, which was now composite including parachute troops, 9th Airborne Division, and the 8th Division which might be the long-reported engineer division, as it has the designation between two other divisions located in the wider Khartoum area.

From this point the indications there are Northern-, Eastern-, Central-, Blue Nile-, and Western Military Regions, and the Khartoum garrison. The Red Sea Military Area, as recently rendered in English, may be a special case, under naval command.

- Northern Military Region (HQ Shendi): 3^rd Division, 19^th Division (established in 2007 or 2009); responsible for the Merowe area and the Nile River.

- Red Sea (HQ Port Sudan; recently referred to in English as “Military Area.” Historically under Navy/Air Defence Force command): 101^st Port Sudan Marine Division (operating along the disputed Egypt/Sudan Halayeb border area first reported in July 2014). In 2018 the IISS added a marine division to their Sudanese listings. In July 2021, the commander of the 101st Marine Division, Naval Staff Major General, Zaki Al-Deen Al-Nour, was quoted in connection with the return of troops from Halayeb. The division may be part of the Navy. Sinkat, within Red Sea State is corroborated as the home of the 12^th Division, as recently as late 2022.

- Eastern Military Region (HQ Khasm el-Girba): 2^nd Division, 11^th Division; responsible for the border with Ethiopia (as of 2023, commanded by Major-General Ahmed Al-Amass).

- Khartoum: 7^th (composite/armoured) Division (in ash-Shajarah; including the EASF parachute battalion, as reported in 2012; note: for decades available reporting has consistently placed virtually all armoured forces in the Khartoum area, with few exceptions; because of this, the division may include the independent reconnaissance brigade which the IISS has listed since 2008). Also in the Khartoum area are the Engineer Corps or Engineer Division (Omdurman, west bank of the Nile); 9th Parachute Division (Omdurman; with two airborne brigades and the Army Special Forces Brigade reported in 2005); and the Republican Guard (a major-general’s command, but of battalion strength in 2004). After the fighting began in April 2023 1st Mechanized Infantry Brigade was reported in Omdurman, which might be part of the 7th or 9th Divisions.

- Central Military Region (HQ el-Obeat al-Ubayyid/el-Obeid): 5^th Division (al-Ubayyid/el-Obeid); 22^nd Division (Western Kordofan); possible 10^th Division in Kordofan (last reliably reported before South Sudan became independent).

- Blue Nile Military Region (HQ probably el-Damazin): 1^st Division; 4^th Division (at el-Damazin); 14^th Division (reportedly in Kadugli); 17^th Division; 18th Division (corroborated in White Nile State, April 2018); 13th Division (not fully corroborated/confirmed). Major General Rabee Adam was appointed as commander in October 2022.

- Western Military Region (HQ opened in Nyala of January 2022, responsible for Darfur): 6^th Division (el-Fasher); 15^th Division (al-Junayna/el-Geneina`, apparently the former 22^nd Brigade); 16^th Division (Nyala); 21^st Division (Zaligei); 46^th Field Artillery Brigade (reported as of November 2005).

Special Forces

The origins of the army’s special forces go back to May 1978 and the creation of an 120-strong ‘anti-terrorism’ unit. A team of eight British Special Air Service personnel gave the original training. Thus was created the 144th Counter-Terrorism unit. But by 1987 normal attrition had reduced the unit to about 40 and special skills had faded. Defense Intelligence Agency assessments judged that its capabilities were limited to airport security. In late 2005 the United Nations listed the brigade as comprising the 143^rd and 144^th Battalions. Earlier, during the 1980s, Omar al-Bashir commanded the 142^nd Airborne Battalion.

Composition of Divisions

A SAF division comprises four brigades; each brigade includes four battalions of four infantry companies of approximately 105 men. Battalions also have administrative and heavy-weapons ('support') companies, as the Small Arms Survey found in 2011.  Assumed authorised strength of a SAF division, circa 2005, is about 7,000. Based on the British Army heritage, infantry companies can be expected to have three rifle platoons. According to Western military personnel interviewed in mid-2010, the Sudanese Army is 'not a Western army'; division and brigade designations should not be trusted. Companies and battalions function, but below Western strengths (as the 7,000 figure for a division also indicates.)

Additional Details

As of the first months of 2014, the International Institute for Strategic Studies Military Balance assessed that the SAF ground forces included the [7^th] Armoured Division; the Engineer Division, of nine engineer battalions; the [9^th] Airborne Division; and “11 plus” infantry divisions, for which a better listing can be seen above. Where the IISS may have been more helpful is where they listed, in addition, five special forces companies (but no mention of a SF brigade headquarters); a mechanised infantry division and an additional mechanised infantry brigade (both listed since the 2007 edition at least); an independent reconnaissance brigade (listed since the 2008 edition); six more independent infantry brigades; a Border Guard security brigade, and three independent artillery regiments. Apart from an increase in the number of infantry divisions (this author believes the actual total is 17, of which the 10th Division and 13th Division both require confirmation) and the addition of the marine division in 2018, this is the listing as of the 2022 edition.

In September 2015 Sudan committed forces to the Saudi-led operation against the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. The CIA said in 2022 that Sudan reportedly was “..providing as many as 40,000 troops during the peak of the war in 2016-17, mostly from the Rapid Support Forces; by 2021, Sudan had reduced the size of the force to about a brigade (approximately 2-3,000 troops).”

The al-Bashir regime continued to lose confidence in the regular SAF as opposed to paramilitary forces. Existent in form of diverse militias since earlier, the Rapid Support Forces were officially established in 2013. In April 2017 the Small Arms Survey noted “Khartoum’s continuous lack of confidence in its regular forces.  ..This lack of trust grew in 2008, when a spectacular Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) raid managed to reach Khartoum without being intercepted by SAF, and was finally stopped in the capital by the intervention of regime-protection irregular special units.

In 2018 the International Institute for Strategic Studies estimated the ground forces to be about 100,000; the air force about 3,000; and the navy about 1,300. Paramilitary forces were estimated at 40,000.

As of March 2022, General Abd-al-Fatah al-Burhan Abd-al-Rahman, the Chair of Sudan’s Sovereign Council and Commander-in-Chief of the Sudanese Armed Forces, served as de facto head of state and government. He presides over a Sovereign Council consisting of military leaders, former armed opposition group representatives, and civilians appointed by the military. Negotiations continued about how to unify the armed forces. The SAF wanted a two-year process of integration by the RSF into the regular armed forces, while Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo “Hemeti” and the RSF was holding out for a ten-year process, to give them greater control. The power struggle between al-Burhan and the SAF, and Hemeti and the RSF, turned violent in April 2023. Both sides appear to believe they may be able to win on the battlefield. Fighting could easily continue for some time. Ceasefires are likely to be short and constantly interrupted for some time to come.

The CIA said in 2022-23 that information varies widely on the size of the armed forces, but there were an estimated 100,000 – 125,000 active duty armed forces personnel, and 50,000 RSF.