The Sudanese army moves forward to retake Wad Madani from the RSF

The Sudanese army announced on Saturday that it had successfully pushed out the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), its paramilitary adversaries, from the central city of Wad Madani. If successful, this would be the army’s largest victory in almost two years of conflict.

The RSF has controlled the city since December 2023. It is the capital of El Gezira state, a commerce and agricultural center, and the army broadcast a video that seemed to show troops inside the city.

Recapturing the entire state could be a turning point in the conflict that started in April 2023 over disagreements over the two forces’ integration, which has resulted in one of the worst humanitarian crises in history, with over 12 million people displaced and half of the population going hungry.

“The Armed Forces leadership congratulates our people on our forces’ arrival in Wad Madani this morning. According to an army statement, they are currently attempting to clear out the last remaining rebel areas within the city.

Hemedti, also known as RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, admitted defeat in a speech posted on Telegram but maintained that the fight was far from finished.

“We will get back Wad Madani, even though we lost it. He went on, “People simply need to get back together, reorganize, and reevaluate themselves.”

Additionally, Hemedti blamed the loss on what he said was the Sudanese army’s dependence on Iranian fighters and drones from Ethiopia’s Tigray region.

Dozens more aircraft, presumably to replenish the RSF in Chad, had flown from the United Arab Emirates to the country, according to a Reuters report. Despite being certified credible by a U.N. team of experts, the UAE disputes the claims.

In addition to seeing some of the RSF’s most brutal attacks on civilians, El Gezira state, which is in the heart of the nation and south of the capital Khartoum, has also seen field burning, market and hospital looting, and irrigation ditch flooding.

Experts have identified Madani as a famine-risk region because of the blockades established as part of the conflict, despite its long history as a hub for agricultural trade.

Following its successful retake of Sennar state in the south, the army has intensified its battle to retake El Gezira in recent months, particularly by increased airstrikes that frequently target people.

In October, the state’s top RSF commander defected to the army, and his soldiers participated in Saturday’s operations. However, the RSF launched a series of attacks in retaliation.

The army has also advanced in recent months in the city of Bahri, which is a component of the larger capital, and it resumed operations there on Saturday.

The majority of the country’s west is under RSF control, and it is engaged in combat with the army for al-Fashir, its final stronghold in the Darfur region. White Nile state in the south of the country is another area of active conflict between the two forces.