OMM Redaksiyası
Sudan’s Joint Force of Armed Movements said on Monday that the army and its forces had taken control of Bir Sleiba in West Darfur state following clashes with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The Joint Force is an armed coalition fighting alongside Sudan’s national army against the RSF. It comprises Darfur movements that signed a peace agreement with the Sudanese government in Juba in 2020.
Its main groups include the Justice and Equality Movement, led by Jibril Ibrahim, and the Sudan Liberation Movement, led by Darfur regional governor Minni Minnawi.
In a statement, the force said its troops and army units fought “fierce field battles” against the RSF on Monday morning along the Bir Sleiba and Abu Suruj fronts.
The force said its units had “destroyed seven RSF combat vehicles, killed a large number of its members, liberated Bir Sleiba and tightened their deployment in the area.” Army and Joint Force personnel also posted videos on social media saying they had taken control of the area.
Bir Sleiba is considered strategically important because it lies on the northern route to El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur, and has a network of key roads. The RSF has not commented on the reported developments.
Bir Sleiba saw heavy fighting in August between the army and Joint Forces on one side and the RSF on the other. The clashes displaced thousands of people, according to the International Organization for Migration.
Of Sudan’s 18 states, the RSF controls the five Darfur states in the west, apart from parts of North Darfur and West Darfur that remain under army control. The army holds most of the other 13 states, including the capital, Khartoum.
The humanitarian crisis in Sudan has worsened during the war between the army and the RSF, which began in April 2023 over a dispute concerning the integration of the military institutions. The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced 13 million.
