Sudan’s army battles RSF for control of oil refinery near Khartoum

Fighting has broken out between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) near the strategic al-Jili oil refinery north of the capital Khartoum. The Sudanese army stated that it had reached the vicinity of the strategically important refinery on Wednesday after launching a multi-pronged offensive north of Khartoum, with reports of direct clashes with the RSF.

Witnesses reported thick plumes of smoke billowing over large areas of Khartoum, and videos circulated by Sudanese social media activists showed the army controlling the entrances to the town. "The terrorist militias of Dagalo deliberately set fire to the Khartoum refinery in Jili this morning after a desperate attempt to destroy the country's infrastructure, in their delusion to seize the country's resources and land," the Sudanese army said in a post on X.

Al Jazeera's Hiba Morgan, reporting from Khartoum, said, "For the past few days, the army has been mounting a heavy offensive, inching closer to the refinery." She also stated, "It is clear that the army is trying to regain control, trying to take back as much territory as possible... but it has not yet taken control of the refinery." Meanwhile, the RSF said that the army launched airstrikes on the refinery.

Fighting was also reported in al-Fashir, after the RSF issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the Sudanese army to leave the city, escalating tensions earlier in the week. According to a military source speaking to Al Jazeera, the army carried out airstrikes on RSF positions after the ultimatum expired. The source also reported clashes around the Zarga complex north of Khartoum, with both sides using heavy weapons.

Sudan plunged into conflict in April 2023 when long-simmering tensions between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo erupted, displacing about 12 million people. The war is ongoing, with the RSF and the Sudanese army accusing each other of war crimes, including targeting civilians and indiscriminate shelling of residential areas, resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands of people.

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said on Tuesday that more than one million people have fled Sudan's war into neighboring South Sudan. The agency added that the majority of the one million people crossing the border are South Sudanese nationals who had previously fled civil war in the world’s newest country. Separately, South Sudanese authorities have suspended access to social media platforms including Facebook and TikTok for at least 30 days after videos of the alleged killing of South Sudanese nationals in Sudan’s Gezira state sparked unrest.

Last week, riots broke out across South Sudan, including in the capital Juba, in retaliation for the alleged involvement of the Sudanese army and its allies in the killings in Gezira state, with at least 16 Sudanese nationals killed. The director general of the National Communications Authority, Napoleon Adok, wrote to internet service providers on Wednesday, ordering them to cut services by midnight, saying the turmoil in Sudan had “exposed the people of South Sudan to unprecedented levels of extreme violence.”