The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has announced that its forces have captured Nyala, the capital of Sudan’s South Darfur State, from the army after months of fighting.
Nyala is a strategic city connecting Sudan with Central African Republic (CAR).
The RSF originated in Darfur and has been accused of atrocities against civilians in the region during this year’s conflict.
RSF’s second-in-command Abdulrahim Daglo, who was sanctioned by the United States for his alleged role in ethnic cleansing in West Darfur, oversaw the battles in Nyala.
The development also coincides with the resumption of peace talks between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Hamdan Osman, the field commander of the Rapid Support Forces, told Radio Tamazuj Thursday that his forces control the entire city of Nyala, including its entrances and exits, after the fall of the military command.
“During the battles of the last two days, our forces were able to control medical corps, military warehouses, the financial administration of pensions, artillery command, and army personnel quarters. There was no area left for the army to control except the administrative offices from the southern side of the army command before its fall on Thursday,” he explained.
He stated that they provided humanitarian services to the residents of Nyala, such as restoring medical assistance to three health centers and treating sick people at the Rapid Support Forces medical unit.
“Today [Thursday], our forces were able to release 15 citizens who were detained in the Engineering Corps, and we found them deprived of food and drink,” Hamdan said.
Meanwhile, Musa Al-Tom Hasouba, an RSF officer with the rank of captain, said that the Rapid Support Forces took control of the command of the 16th Infantry Division and that its commander, Major General Hussein Jawdat, escaped after fierce fighting.
The army spokesperson could not immediately be reached for comment on its defeat in Nyala.
Al-Tahir Ibrahim Hammad, one of the detainees who has been released, said: “I came to the city of Nyala from the Edd El Fursan area to visit my aunt who was injured by a stray bullet. On the way, soldiers from the joint force of the armed struggle movements stopped me, arrested me, and handed me over to the army command of the 16th Infantry Division. I remained in detention for 13 days without food and water, and they also tortured me.”
Abdul-Qader Muhammad Haroun, another detainee who has been freed, said that he was arrested by Military Intelligence and spent nine days in Engineering Corps detention centers without food and water.
Fighting between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) erupted on April 15 over tensions linked to a planned transition to civilian rule. It has devastated Khartoum’s capital and sparked ethnically driven attacks in the Darfur region.
After nearly six months of fighting, an estimated 9,000 people have been killed and another 5.6 million forced to flee their homes, according to the United Nations.