Sudan’s military says it has captured a key city in the country’s east, one of its biggest successes so far in its nearly two-year war against rebel forces.
Footage on social media showed people celebrating in the streets as soldiers entered the town of Wad Madani.
The leader of the Rapid Support Force (RSF) paramilitary group, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti, confirmed the loss in an audio message.
His admission was angry and rambling, attributing the defeat to the military’s air superiority and the use of Iranian-made drones.
But he vowed to keep fighting until victory, even if it takes another 20 years.
Wad Madani is the capital of Al Jazeera State and is located 87 miles (140 km) south of the country’s capital, Khartoum.
Wad Madani serves as a strategic crossroads connecting several states with key supply highways. It is also the closest major city to Khartoum.
Sudan has been ravaged by war since April 2023, when fighting broke out between the RSF and the Sudanese army.
The RSF continues to control almost the entire Sudanese region of West Darfur, as well as significant parts of the country’s south. Meanwhile, the army controls the north and east, as well as parts of Khartoum.
The war claimed tens of thousands of lives. And in what the United Nations has called one of the world’s “greatest displacement crises,” some nine million people have been forced to flee their homes.
Earth is too sliding into starvationwith 24.6 million people – about half the population – in urgent need of food aid, experts say.
Earlier this month, the US subsequently sanctioned the RSF leader accused the group of committing genocide.
Officials said he was being punished for his role in “systematic” crimes against the Sudanese people during the 20-month conflict.