Khartoum [Sudan], March 27: Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has declared, "Khartoum is free" hours after his forces recaptured Khartoum airport from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Al-Burhan was speaking on Wednesday from the presidential palace that government forces took control of Friday in a key victory. Earlier, soldiers also encircled areas surrounding the airport in the Sudanese capital on Wednesday, a key development in a two-year-old conflict between the SAF and rival RSF, with the paramilitary's forces fleeing across a bridge out of that part of the capital.
SAF troops "surrounded the strategic Jebel Awliya area" south of central Khartoum, the last large RSF stronghold in the area, a military source told the AFP news agency, requesting anonymity because he is not authorised to brief the media.
The army also secured both sides of the Manshiya Bridge, which crosses the Blue Nile River in Khartoum, leaving the Jebel Awliya Bridge just south of the capital as the only crossing out of the area still under RSF control. The military, at war with the RSF since April 2023, launched a campaign this week to push the paramilitary forces out of central Khartoum. (Agencies)
Source: Qatar Tribune