Roundup: Sudanese army announces breaking siege on General Command HQ, paramilitary forces deny

KHARTOUM, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Sudanese army announced on Friday that it has broken the 21-month-long siege imposed by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on the General Command headquarters in the capital Khartoum.

"Our forces have completed the second phase of their operations on Friday, when the forces of Bahri (city) axis linked up with our forces stationed at the General Command," the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) spokesperson's office said in a statement.

"The leadership of the armed forces congratulates our forces on all battlefronts for this victory, which coincided with the repelling of a treacherous attack by the terrorist RSF militia this morning on the resilient city of El Fasher," the statement said.

According to the statement, the army also succeeded in breaking the siege imposed by the RSF on the Signals Corps headquarters south of Bahri city, north of the capital Khartoum.

Earlier on Friday, Sudanese Minister of Information and government spokesperson Khalid Ali Aleisir announced in a statement that the SAF had achieved major victories in Khartoum.

The General Command of the Sudanese army had been under siege by the RSF since the outbreak of the armed conflict in mid-April 2023.

The General Command, located in the heart of Khartoum, comprises five main buildings, including the Army Headquarters, Navy Command, Air Force Headquarters, Military Intelligence, and the Ministry of Defense.

However, the RSF denied in a statement on Friday that the SAF had lifted the siege on the army headquarters or that on the signal corps.

"The rumors about the army forces meeting at the signal corps and attempts to fabricate imaginary battles and achieve false victories by posting fake videos on social media are nothing but a chapter of lies," the statement said.

"The undeniable truth is that the brave and heroic RSF fighters have taught the army harsh lessons in courage and valor, and achieved great victories on all battlefronts, including the Bahri axis, and they are still fighting," according to the statement.

Also on Friday, the SAF said it had retaken control of the Khartoum Oil Refinery in the Al-Jaili area, north of the capital of Khartoum, which had been controlled by the RSF.

"The RSF militia has been expelled from the Khartoum oil refinery in Al-Jaili and the military industry headquarters," office of the SAF spokesperson said in a statement.

The Khartoum refinery, the country's largest, was built in the 1990s and is located in the Al-Jaili area, approximately 70 km north of Khartoum.

Meanwhile, the Sudanese air force is intensifying strikes on the RSF-controlled areas in the far north of Bahri, the eastern parts of the city, namely the Kafouri area, and the southern parts of Khartoum, where the RSF's main base is located.

In western Sudan, the fighting in El Fasher, the capital city of North Darfur State, has intensified.

The Joint Force, which includes the SAF and allied armed groups, announced in a statement on Friday that they had repelled a major attack by the RSF on El Fasher from several directions.

Sudan's Darfur region governor Minni Arko Minnawi confirmed in a statement on Friday that the armed forces and popular resistance "have taught the militias a lesson, causing them to retreat in disappointment."

Since May 10, 2024, the RSF has imposed a siege on El Fasher, while the Sudanese army continued to defend the city, which remains under its control.

Sudan has been gripped by a devastating conflict between the SAF and the RSF since mid-April 2023, which claimed at least 27,000 lives and displaced over 15 million people, either inside or outside Sudan, according to the latest estimates by international organizations. ■