Sudan army surrounds Khartoum airport and nearby areas, military sources say

The Sudanese army is encircling Khartoum airport and surrounding areas, two military sources told Reuters on Wednesday, marking another gain in its two-year-old war with a rival armed group, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Separately, Sudan's army said in a statement it had taken control of the Tiba al-Hassanab camp in Jabal Awliya, describing this as the RSF's main base in central Sudan and its last stronghold in Khartoum.

The army had long been on the back foot in a conflict that threatens to partition the country and has caused a humanitarian disaster. But it has recently made gains and has retaken territory from the RSF in the centre of the country.

The army seized control of the presidential palace in downtown Khartoum on Friday.

Witnesses said on Wednesday that RSF had mainly stationed its forces in southern Khartoum to secure their withdrawal from the capital via bridges to the neighbouring city of Omdurman.

The UN calls the situation in Sudan the world's largest humanitarian crisis, with famine in several locations and disease across the country of 50 million people.

The war erupted two years ago as Sudan was planning a transition to democratic rule.

The army and RSF had joined forces after forcing Omar al-Bashir from power in 2019 and later in ousting the civilian leadership.

But they had long been at odds, as Bashir developed Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo ‘Hemedti’ and the RSF, which has its roots in Darfur's Janjaweed militias, as a counterweight to the army, led by career officer Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.

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• Sudan army surrounds Khartoum airport and nearby areas
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