Sudanese army claims capture of key eastern city from rebels

The service successful Sudan says it has captured a cardinal metropolis successful the country's east, 1 of its biggest gains yet successful an astir two-year-long warfare against rebel forces.

Footage connected societal media showed radical celebrating successful the streets arsenic service soldiers entered the metropolis of Wad Madani.

The person of paramilitary radical the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, besides known arsenic Hemedti, acknowledged the nonaccomplishment successful an audio message.

His admittance was aggravated and rambling, attributing the decision to the army's aerial superiority and usage of Iranian-made drones.

But helium vowed to proceed warring until victory, adjacent if it took different 20 years.

Wad Madani is the superior of the authorities of Al Jazira, and is 87 miles (140km) southbound of the country's capital, Khartoum.

Wad Madani serves arsenic a strategical crossroads, connecting respective states done cardinal proviso highways. It is besides the closest large municipality to Khartoum.

Sudan has been ravaged by warfare since April 2023, erstwhile warring broke retired betwixt the RSF and the Sudanese army.

The RSF continues to power astir each of Sudan's occidental Darfur region, arsenic good arsenic important portions of the country's south. Meanwhile, the service controls the northbound and east, arsenic good arsenic parts of Khartoum.

The warfare has claimed tens of thousands of lives. And successful what the United Nations has called 1 of the world's "largest displacement crises", astir 9 cardinal radical person been forced to fly their homes.

The state is besides slipping into a famine, with 24.6 cardinal radical - astir fractional the colonisation - successful urgent request of nutrient aid, experts said.

Earlier this month, the US sanctioned the RSF person aft it accused the radical of committing genocide.

Officials said helium was being punished for his relation successful "systematic" atrocities against the Sudanese radical during the 20-month conflict.