Sudan’s military says it has captured a key eastern city, one of its biggest achievements in its nearly two-year war against rebels.
Social media footage showed people celebrating in the streets as army soldiers entered the city of Wad Madani.
General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti, leader of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), acknowledged the losses in a voice message.
His admission was angry and rambling, and he attributed the defeat to the military’s air superiority and use of Iranian-made drones.
But he vowed to keep fighting until victory, even if it took another 20 years.
Wad Madani is the capital of Al Jazira Governorate, 140 km south of the capital Khartoum.
Wad Madani serves as a strategic crossroads connecting several provinces via major 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.
RSF continues to control most of Sudan’s western Darfur region and much of the south. Meanwhile, the army controls the north and east, as well as parts of Khartoum.
The war took tens of thousands of lives. And an estimated 9 million people have been forced to leave their homes in what the United Nations calls the world’s largest “migration crisis.”
Even me fall into famineExperts say 24.6 million people, or half of the population, need emergency food assistance.
Earlier this month, the United States imposed sanctions on RSF leaders. It accused the group of committing genocide.
Officials said he was being punished for his role in “systematic” atrocities against Sudanese people during the country’s 20-month civil war.
