The Sudanese military says rebels have captured the key eastern city.
51576370-d099-11ef-adff-155484bd97ba.jpg.webp
A man wearing a green shirt famously walks on another man's shoulders Getty Images
Crowds in Port Sudan celebrate the announced capture of Wad Madani by the Sudanese military
Sudan's army says it has captured a key town in the east of the country, one of its biggest gains in a nearly two-year war against rebel forces.
Footage on social media showed people celebrating in the streets as army soldiers entered the town of Wad Madani.
The head of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti, admitted defeat in an audio message.
His admission was angry and detached, attributing the loss to military air superiority and the use of Iranian-made drones.
But he vowed to continue the fight until victory, even if it takes another 20 years. Wad Madani is the capital of Al Jazeera State, 140 km south of the country's capital, Khartoum.
Wad Madani is a strategic crossroads, connecting several states via major supply routes. 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 all of Sudan's western Darfur region, as well as a significant part of the country's south. Meanwhile, the army controls the north and east of the country, as well as parts of Khartoum.
The war left tens of thousands dead. And in what the United Nations has called one of the "world's biggest displacement crises," some nine million people have been forced to leave their homes.
The country is also mired in famine, with 24.6 million people - about half the population - in urgent need of food aid, experts say.
Earlier this month, the United States sanctioned the head of RSF after accusing the group of committing genocide. Authorities said he was being punished for his role in "systematic" atrocities against the Sudanese people during the 20-month conflict.
[attachment deleted by admin]