The army announced that General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan went to Sennar to “oversee the operation and celebrate the liberation of Singa.”
The Sudanese army announced on Saturday that it had retaken the capital of the strategic state of Sennar, south of Khartoum, which had been controlled by rival paramilitaries for five months.
The city of Singa, capital of Sennar State, is a key junction on a road linking army-controlled areas in the central and eastern parts of Sudan with those controlled by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). It is seen as a strategic prize in the 19-month-long war between the regular army and the RSF.
The RSF has not yet commented on the army’s announcement.
The army said Singa had been “liberated from terrorist militias” and shared footage on social media showing their withdrawal from the city’s main base.
The Information Minister of the army-backed government, Khalid al-Aiser, said, “Singa has returned to the nation’s embrace.”
Burhan visits the city
Aiser’s office stated that the commander of the armed forces, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, had traveled to Sennar, located 60 kilometers (40 miles) north, on Saturday “to oversee the operation and celebrate the liberation of Singa.”
According to United Nations figures, during a lightning assault by the RSF in June, two cities were captured and around 726,000 civilians fled.
Human rights groups report that those who either did not want to leave or could not leave were subjected to arbitrary violence by RSF fighters for months.
Singa teacher Abdullah al-Hasan expressed “indescribable joy” upon seeing the army enter the city after “months of terror.” He said, “At any moment, you were expecting the militias to come and beat you or loot.”
War crime allegations
Both sides in the Sudan conflict are accused of war crimes, including indiscriminate bombing of homes, markets, and hospitals.
The RSF are also accused of summary executions, systematic sexual violence, and widespread looting.
The paramilitaries control almost all of the vast Darfur region in the west and large parts of southern Kordofan. They also hold a significant portion of the capital Khartoum and the key agricultural state of Al-Jazira in the south.
Since the war began in April 2023, tens of thousands have been killed, and over 11 million people have been displaced. The situation has been described by the UN as the world’s largest displacement crisis.
