Sudan paramilitary leader says 'lost' Al-Jazira state capital

Port Sudan, Sudan: The commander of the Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces said his troops lost Wad Madani , the state capital of Al Jazira,...

Port Sudan, Sudan: The commander of the Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces said his troops "lost Wad Madani", the state capital of Al-Jazira, on Saturday as the army launched an offensive.

In an audio address to his fighters and the Sudanese people, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo vowed to "regain all" of the central Sudanese city, which has been under RSF control since December 2023.

The army, battling the RSF since April of that year, said it had entered the city on Saturday and was "clearing the remnants of the rebels".

Government officials, loyal to the army, have hailed the recapture of the key city, a strategic crossroads of supply highways linking several states.

It is also the nearest major town to the war-torn capital Khartoum, 200 kilometres (124 miles) north.