On Monday, two military sources reported that the Sudanese army regained control of a crucial highway linking the country’s capital to the city of El-Obeid.
It comes after the army’s rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces had been amassing troops around El Obeid for months.
The RSF have now been pushed west, off the highway. El Obeid is located at an important crossroads: its north-south highway runs to the capital, while its east-west axis links RSF strongholds in the Darfur area to the army-controlled centre and east of the country.
Although the highway to Khartoum is still closed to civilians, the army advance opens a second supply route to El Obeid, according to a military source.
The conflict between the Sudanese army and RSF broke out in April 2023; aid workers estimate it has since claimed more than 200,000 lives. I
t has also triggered the world’s largest hunger crisis.
