When the Rapid Support Forces seized El Fasher in Darfur, Egypt did not see it as just another battle in Sudan’s war. The Sudanese Armed Forces, which have been fighting the Rapid Support Forces since April 2023, have a long-standing relationship with the Egyptian army, and Cairo has helped its ally throughout the war.
But the Rapid Support Forces’ capture of the Sudanese part of the border triangle that includes parts of Egypt and Libya in June, followed by their takeover of El Fasher, marked a major turning point in the war.
Sudanese analyst and director of the Confluence Advisory research center, Khulood Khair, told MEE: “The Sudanese armed forces expect Egypt and Turkey to supply them with weapons after the fall of El Fasher.”
The gravity of the situation for Cairo was confirmed when the Egyptian army chief of staff, Major General Ahmed Fathy, made two visits within 24 hours – first to Saudi Arabia, then to Port Sudan, where the army-backed Sudanese government is currently based.
In Saudi Arabia, which is believed to support the Sudanese armed forces in the Sudanese war, Fathy co-chaired the Egyptian-Saudi military cooperation committee. In Sudan, he coordinated operational plans along the shared border.
According to the same Egyptian source, the visit paved the way for the establishment of a joint operations room in North Kordofan and new early warning radar systems.
A senior Egyptian military source in intelligence said: “The joint operations room in Kordofan will enable Egypt to restore the Sudanese army’s presence in areas recently seized by the Rapid Support Forces.”
Cairo’s strategic shift:
On the ground, Egypt has mobilized its forces along its borders with Sudan and Libya and is conducting continuous air patrols. The source explained that “the Egyptian Air Force has avoided approaching areas controlled by the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan, wary of their mobile air defense systems.
For Egypt, the capture of El Fasher was not just a loss for the Sudanese army, but a warning of the fragility of regional stability.
The Rapid Support Forces’ capture of the Sudanese part of the Triangle region and El Fasher also gives them control over vital trade routes extending to Libya and Chad. Egypt has benefited from gold smuggling from Sudan during the war and does not want an uncontrollable force in charge of these routes.
Support from Turkey:
In an important development, the Egyptian and Turkish armies have begun direct cooperation on Sudan, in a rare move of rapprochement between two regional rivals.
A Turkish source with direct knowledge of the matter told Middle East Eye that Turkey plans to increase its support for the Sudanese army.
Since last year, Turkey has supplied the Sudanese armed forces with military drones, air-to-ground missiles, and command centers. The Turkish source said this support would continue. Turkish drone operators have also been active inside Sudan.
The Turkish source confirmed that Ankara cannot supply the Sudanese armed forces with air defense systems because it has a limited amount of such domestically produced equipment.
Confirming MEE’s Egyptian and Sudanese sources, Turkish sources said that Egypt had been quietly supporting the Sudanese army throughout the war. “It is now almost certain that the Sudanese armed forces have rejected the ceasefire,” Khair said. “This will be embarrassing for Cairo, after Trump effectively tasked Sisi with securing the Sudanese armed forces’ agreement to the US plan.
Egypt and the Sudanese army are working to establish another joint operations room in El Obeid, North Kordofan, to coordinate efforts against the advance of the Rapid Support Forces.
