Sudan's Armed Forces deny RSF control over Central Darfur State
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The army's official spokesperson says the state is protected by members of the military who are still in positions.
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Sudan's Armed Forces official spokesperson Brigadier General Nabil Abdullah in April 2023 (Screengrab from video release)
Sudan's Armed Forces denied that the Rapid Support Forces RSF took control of Central Darfur State located in the western part of the country.
The army's official spokesperson Brigadier General Nabil Abdullah said in an audio recording on Friday that the RSF claimed that they had taken over Central Darfur state, stressing that "this is not true."
The Sudanese army has an infantry division in Zalingei, the state capital, and its forces are present there "in their positions and are ready to confront any attack and deal with it strongly," Abdullah stated.
Read more: 6.3mln people threatened with famine in conflict-torn Sudan: UN
Army forces "struck the RSF in central and southern Khartoum and the eastern Nile," he said, adding that they were "successful strikes, which cost the rebels casualties and equipment."
Abdullah accused the other party of continuing its "violations against citizens and expelling them from their homes" in the areas of Al-Jili north of Khartoum and the Jabra neighborhood south of the capital, explaining that they emptied the areas in order "to use them in military operations."
The RSF announced on Friday that they had "fully taken control of Central Darfur State" in western Sudan, releasing footage showing the commander of the forces in the state Brigadier Ali Yacoub Jibril declaring that the RSF "will move from Zalingei, the capital of Central Darfur state, toward Khartoum."
As battles intensified and violence between the forces of rival generals raged in the western Darfur region, many locals claimed last week that Sudan's paramilitaries had forced citizens to leave their houses in the capital's south.
"Members of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) told me I had 24 hours to leave the area," Fawzy Radwan, a Khartoum resident told AFP, after taking care of his family's house since the conflict between the RSF and the Sudanese army broke out in the city more than three months ago.
At least 3,900 people have died and almost 3.5 million people have been displaced as a result of the conflict between army leader Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and his former deputy, RSF commander Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo.
Many of the fighting incidents have taken place in Khartoum's densely populated neighborhoods, driving 1.7 million people from their homes and forcing the millions of those who are still there to seek refuge from the crossfire in their homes amid scarce water and power.
