Sudanese army recaptures key city from rivaling rebel group

The Sudanese army has captured a key city in the east of the country, marking a significant strategic gain in its nearly two-year conflict with the rivaling paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The leader of the RSF, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti, acknowledged the loss in an audio message and attributed it to the army's air superiority and use of Iranian-made drones. As Caliber.Az reports citing Western media outlets, he vowed to continue fighting to regain the losses though angered by the recent development.

The captured city of Wad Madani, a vital crossroads near the capital Khartoum, highlights the ongoing divide, with the army controlling the north and east while the RSF dominates Darfur and the south. 

The Northeast African state has been plagued by decades of political instability and internal fighting by various fractions, most notably the War in Darfur that broke out in the beginning of the 2000's. The country's long-time President Omar al-Bashir was ousted in 2019, who himself came to power in a coup in 1989, which set Sudan on it's recent path of political instability.

The current wave of escalation broke out following the 2021 military coup by the Sudanese army, headed by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. A council of generals was established, ran together by Burhan and his deputy and leader of the RSF, Hemedti.

Tensions arose between the two sides over the country's direction and the transition to civilian rule, with disagreements focusing on the integration of the 100,000-strong RSF into the army and leadership of the new force. The conflict escalated into shooting on April 15, 2023, after the RSF's redeployment across the country was perceived as a threat by the army.

According to the UN, tens of thousands of deaths occurred since 2023 with about nine million people having had to flee their homes inside the country, creating one of the world’s largest displacement crises.

By Nazrin Sadigova