The Sudanese armed forces said on Saturday its troops had entered Wad Medani, the capital of Al Gezira state south of Khartoum, more than a year after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces captured the key city.
"The armed forces congratulate our gracious people on the entry of our forces this morning into Wad Medani. They are now clearing pockets of the rebels inside the city," a military statement said.
The capture of Wad Medani by the RSF in December 2023 was a major setback for Sudan's army in its war against the paramilitary, which has devastated the vast Afro-Arab nation.
The war that began in April 2023 has killed tens of thousands, displaced more than 10 million and created the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with about 26 million people – more than half the population – facing acute hunger.
Al Gezira state was home to about 500,000 people displaced by fighting, mostly from Khartoum, at the time Wad Medani was captured. Of these, an estimated 90,000 lived in Wad Medani.
The area was being used as a centre for relief efforts, but the fighting forced the UN humanitarian agency to suspend its work there.
Videos shared online showed troops and armed men in civilian clothes celebrating the capture of Wad Medani, which sits in a region that is considered Sudan's breadbasket. Some clips showed troops standing beside a tank and armoured vehicles as gunfire rang out in the background.
Hundreds of people took to the streets to celebrate in the Red Sea city of Port Sudan, home to the military-backed and internationally recognised government led by army chief Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan.
"This is Wad Medani, dear Wad Medani," a soldier said as he pointed to the Nile in one video.
The recapture of Wad Medani is the latest in a string of battlefield victories by the army, which has over recent months reversed its losses in the early days of the war. It has regained areas held by the RSF in the greater region of the capital Khartoum, notably in Omdurman and Bahri, as well areas to the south.
The RSF, however, continues to control most of the capital, including the international airport and the Nile-side presidential palace. It has captured most of the western Darfur region, birthplace of the RSF forerunner, the notorious Janjaweed militia, and parts of Kordofan in the south-west.
The war broke out after months of tension between the army and the RSF, led by Gen Mohamed Dagalo, over their future role in Sudan as it transitioned to democratic rule. It has since become a fight for supremacy between Gen Al Burhan and Gen Dagalo, his former ally.
Both men claim to be fighting for a democratic and inclusive Sudan, a country of some 50 million ethnically and religiously diverse people, but their forces are accused of committing war crimes, with the RSF singled out by foreign powers and the UN as the worse offender.
On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the RSF and allied militias have committed genocide in the war.
“The RSF and allied militias have systematically murdered men and boys – even infants – on an ethnic basis, and deliberately targeted women and girls from certain ethnic groups for rape and other forms of brutal sexual violence,” he said.
“Those same militias have targeted fleeing civilians, murdering innocent people escaping conflict, and prevented remaining civilians from accessing life-saving supplies. Based on this information, I have now concluded that members of the RSF and allied militias have committed genocide in Sudan.”
Al Shafie Ahmed reported from Kampala, Uganda.
