Sudan’s RSF paramilitary captures key transport junction as war escalates MAP / VIDEO

Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) announced on December 1 that it had taken full control of Babanusa, a strategic transport junction in the country’s oil-producing South, amid intensifying frontlines in the ongoing war.

In a statement, the RSF said its “liberation” of Babanusa in West Kordofan state came as it repelled “a surprise attack” by the Sudanese army, describing the assault as “a clear violation of the humanitarian truce,” Reuters reports.

The seizure of Babanusa marks a new advance for the RSF, which has been locked in a brutal conflict with Sudan’s national army since the war erupted in April 2023.

On November 19, US President Donald Trump said he would intervene to help stop the conflict. Earlier in November, the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Saudi Arabia — known collectively as the Quad — proposed a plan for a three-month truce followed by peace talks.

While the RSF initially announced it had accepted the plan, it soon launched a series of drone strikes on army-held territory.

The assault on Babanusa comes on the heels of the RSF’s capture of al-Fasher — the army’s final stronghold in Darfur — in October, further consolidating the group’s territorial momentum as international efforts to broker a ceasefire remain stalled.

By Vafa Guliyeva