Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces says it has captured Babanusa, a transport junction in the south of the country, just a month after the fall of Al Fashir to the same group.
The RSF said in a statement the seizure of the city in West Kordofan state came as it repelled “a surprise attack” by the Sudanese army in what it called “a clear violation of the humanitarian truce”.
The paramilitary group added it had “liberated” the city in the state, which has become the latest frontline in the war in Sudan.
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It comes just over a month after the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) withdrew from military positions in the heart of Al Fashir, the capital of North Darfur, and the symbolic site was captured by the RSF with no resistance.
The RSF claimed at the time it had taken over the city and completed its military control of the Darfur region, where the administration of former US president Joe Biden has accused the group of committing genocide.
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The war between the Sudanese army and the RSF – who were once allies – started in Khartoum in April 2023 but has spread across the country.
About 12 million people are believed to have been displaced and at least 40,000 killed in the civil war, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) – but aid groups say the true death toll could be far greater.
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Tom Fletcher, the UN’s under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, recently told Sky’s The World With Yalda Hakim the situation was “horrifying”.
“It’s utterly grim right now – it’s the epicentre of suffering in the world,” he said of Sudan.
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The United States, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Saudi Arabia – known as the Quad – earlier in November proposed a plan for a three-month truce followed by peace talks.
The RSF responded by saying it had accepted the plan, but soon after attacked army territory with a barrage of drone strikes.
