Sudanese army retakes strategic town in southeastern Sudan a week after losing it

5 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Sudanese army has retaken the strategic town of Dinder, located in the southeastern state of Sennar, just a week after it fell under the control of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia, which has been in rebellion since the start of fighting in April 2023.

Following their entry into the town, the army reported that a large number of civilian properties had been looted by RSF members, stressing that they had managed to recover some of these properties after pursuing the militants to the entrance to the neighbouring town of Singa.

“The Sudanese Armed Forces have recovered a large number of looted vehicles and property of citizens, and have secured both roads and basic needs of citizens after defeating and pursuing the RSF terrorists,” the army said on its Facebook account.

The operation also involved the Sudan Liberation Movement, led by former rebel leader and now governor of Sudan’s Darfur region, Minni Minawi, and the Justice and Equality Movement, led by former rebel leader Gibril Ibrahim, who are part of a joint force in support of the army, according to the newspaper ‘Sudan Tribune’.

Dinder is located 25 kilometers from Singa and serves as a key link between Sennar and Blue Nile states with the east of the country. The town was taken after the RSF used Singa, captured on June 29, as a spearhead against the army base and government headquarters.

On Thursday, the RSF claimed the capture of an important base located in Al Meiram, in the state of Western Kordofan, very close to the border with South Sudan and adjacent to the disputed region of Abyei. Meanwhile, bloody fighting has continued both in the state of North Darfur and in other areas of the country, plunging it into one of the most serious humanitarian crises in the world.

The war broke out on April 15, 2023, due to strong disagreements over the process of integrating the paramilitary group – now declared a terrorist organization – into the Armed Forces, a situation that caused the definitive derailment of the transition that began in 2019 after the overthrow of the regime of Omar Hassan al Bashir.