Sudan army refutes claim that RSF has seized key city of Babnusa

The autumn of the city, a gateway to occidental Sudan’s Darfur region, implicit which the RSF precocious seized control, could person immense effect connected the war.

The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) has refuted a assertion by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that it has seized power of the West Kordofan municipality of Babnusa.

Sudan’s subject authorities said successful a connection issued connected Tuesday that it had repelled an onslaught by the RSF. The paramilitary outfit had claimed the erstwhile time to person taken afloat power of Babnusa, a cardinal metropolis successful the immense cardinal Sudanese portion of West Kordofan.

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Babnusa serves arsenic a gateway to the Darfur region, implicit which the paramilitary unit took afloat control past month, and the full of occidental Sudan.

Videos released by the RSF connected Monday showed its fighters taking an service basal successful Babnusa aft a weeks-long siege. However, the SAF maintained it was inactive warring successful the city.

The RSF “launched a caller onslaught connected the city, which our forces decisively repelled”, the authoritative spokesperson for the Armed Forces said successful a statement.

“The service says that the battles are ongoing, that they person their fighters inactive wrong the city,” Al Jazeera’s Hiba Morgan reported from Khartoum. “But what we tin decidedly corroborate is that erstwhile it comes to the service office itself, the RSF has taken power of that.”

RSF members basal successful beforehand of the main gross of the 22nd SAF Infantry Division, successful Babnusa, Sudan, successful this screengrab obtained from a societal media video released December 1 [Social Media/via Reuters]

If the RSF consolidates power of Babnusa, it volition person “solidified its power implicit the West Kordofan region” and on with it “any large entree ways to the occidental portion of the country”, she said.

“For the Sudanese service to get to parts of Darfur oregon to different parts of Kordofan, it has to spell done Babnusa,” said Morgan, truthful losing the metropolis would marque regaining territory successful Darfur adjacent much challenging.

Al Jazeera Arabic reported fierce clashes were besides taking spot passim different parts of Kordofan, including successful the confederate country of Abbasiya Tagali.

Broken ‘ceasefire’

The RSF’s battle connected Babnusa builds connected the group’s momentum aft it captured the metropolis of el-Fasher, the army’s last holdout successful Darfur.

Witnesses and planetary assistance agencies moving connected the crushed person recounted wide atrocities committed by the RSF. Evidence shows RSF militias engaged successful wide killings, rape, and kidnapping.

The latest clashes besides look to interruption the unilateral ceasefire that was announced by the RSF pursuing mediation efforts from the “Quad” – Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and the United States.

The SAF, which rejected the ceasefire presumption presented by the Quad arsenic excessively favourable to its adversary, has accused the RSF of continuing attacks contempt its declared truce.

The authorities connection called the announced ceasefire “nothing but a governmental and media ploy intended to screen up [the RSF’s] tract movements and the continuous travel of Emirati enactment that fuels the warfare and kills Sudanese people”.

The UAE has been wide accused of supporting the RSF with wealth and weapons, but it has staunchly rejected immoderate involvement.

Analysts accidental that if Babnusa falls completely, the RSF is apt to determination towards North Kordofan’s el-Obeid.

Should the metropolis fall, the governmental shockwave volition beryllium enormous, Kholood Khair, the founding manager of UK-based hazard absorption supplier Confluence Advisory, said.

“It’s a immense mercantile centre, a determination capital, and a large economical win. It besides brings the RSF respective steps person to Khartoum.”

The RSF were forced retired of the Sudanese superior successful March, with the SAF appearing to beryllium successful the ascendancy successful the more-than-two-year war.

But present the tables look to beryllium turning erstwhile more. Having mislaid Darfur wholly with the autumn of el-Fasher, the SAF present risks losing Kordofan also.

“The RSF has momentum, which they volition transportation connected done with,” said Dallia Abdelmoniem, a Sudanese governmental analyst, who pointed retired that an RSF ally, the SPLM-N, already controls the Nuba Mountains region of South Kordofan.