How strategic is Wad Madani city, retaken by Sudanese army?

The Sudanese army recently successfully recaptured the strategically important city of Wad Madani, located about 200 kilometers southeast of the capital Khartoum, dealing a significant blow to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The military stated in a declaration: “The Armed Forces leadership congratulates our people, our forces entered Wad Madani this morning. They are currently clearing the remaining rebel strongholds within the city.”

Previously, the Sudanese army had been steadily advancing over the past few months, entering Omdurman, the country's second-largest city, last week. Wad Madani, a crucial junction of key supply roads connecting several states, had been under the control of the Rapid Support Forces since December 2023. RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti, insisted that the fighting was not over, saying, "Today we lost a round, but we have not lost the entire battle."

Since the conflict between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces erupted in April 2023 over control of the North African country, more than 12 million people have been displaced, creating one of the world's largest humanitarian crises. So, what is the real significance of the Sudanese Armed Forces recapturing Wad Madani? Can the army repeat its recent success in retaking other territories still controlled by the Rapid Support Forces?

Wad Madani is the capital of Gezira State, located in central Sudan, south of Khartoum. Al Jazeera reporter Hiba Morgan pointed out that whoever controls this agricultural and trade center has easier access to other parts of the country. Morgan stated: "When the Rapid Support Forces occupied Wad Madani in December 2023, they were able to travel to other areas of the country, such as Sennar in the southeast, the Blue Nile in the east, and the White Nile in the south."

Hamid Khalafallah, a Sudanese policy analyst and PhD candidate at the University of Manchester, pointed out that the city is also a "very important location" through which supplies and other "logistical arrangements" can be transported to the capital. Khalafallah told Al Jazeera: "Whoever controls Madani has greater flexibility in transporting different supplies to and from Khartoum." In the early days of the conflict, before the Rapid Support Forces occupied the city, it had been a safe haven for displaced families.

Since the Rapid Support Forces occupied the city, it has been one of the sites of the paramilitary forces' bloodiest attacks on civilians, with incidents including burning farmland, looting hospitals and markets, and flooding irrigation canals. However, the Rapid Support Forces still control most of the state, almost all of the Darfur region in western Sudan, and much of the south of the country. The army's recapture of this strategic location is part of its efforts to strengthen its operations to reclaim Gezira State in recent months, after having previously recaptured Sennar State in the south.

Events in October helped the army when a senior Rapid Support Forces commander in the state defected to the Sudanese Armed Forces. This commander's forces participated in Saturday's operation. Last week, the army made progress in Omdurman, the second-largest city, retaking several areas from the Rapid Support Forces. This represents a major turning point in the war and another blow to the Rapid Support Forces, which had been gaining the upper hand against the military for almost two years of conflict.

The army's recapture operation will allow it to access other parts of the country, while the Rapid Support Forces will now be cut off from these areas, such as Sennar State, Blue Nile State, and White Nile State. Morgan said: "Now that the Rapid Support Forces have lost that territory, the progress they made before will no longer be possible, and their forces in those areas will be trapped by the Sudanese army forces." She also added: "Wad Madani is also home to the army's First Infantry Division, which will give the army a morale boost."

Morgan explained that when the Rapid Support Forces occupied the city, there were many complaints among officers and soldiers that the leadership had not met the standards of the Sudanese army and that the leadership should be replaced. She said: "Now that Wad Madani is back under the control of the Sudanese army, the army, especially its leadership, may gain more support, not only from soldiers and officers, but also from Sudanese citizens."

In addition, the recapture of the city may help address the hunger crisis in Sudan, as the state is home to Sudan's most fertile land and agricultural programs, much of which was prohibited under Rapid Support Forces rule. Researcher Khalafallah said: "Now people will have space to plant and farm, produce food, and so on, to address the famine and food security crisis that is happening in Sudan."

The developments may also provide a long-awaited respite for the city's residents, who, Khalafallah said, "have been subjected to the most horrific human rights abuses and atrocities committed by the Rapid Support Forces." However, Khalafallah warned that there is a pattern of the army targeting pro-democracy activists in the cities it has already recaptured, which could be a worrying development if it is repeated in Wad Madani.

In addition to Wad Madani, the Sudanese army also controls the north and east of the country, as well as parts of the capital. In Wad Madani, Sudanese soldiers in camouflage uniforms, waving rifles from the backs of trucks, beamed with smiles after claiming to have "liberated" the city, as shown in social media videos verified by Al Jazeera. Local resistance committees, one of hundreds of pro-democracy volunteer groups coordinating frontline aid in the country, cheered the progress as an end to the "tyranny" of the Rapid Support Forces.

Meanwhile, witnesses in army-controlled cities across Sudan reported that dozens of people were celebrating in the streets. In Port Sudan, a city on the Red Sea coast, boisterous crowds waved Sudanese flags in celebration after news broke of the strategic city being retaken from the Rapid Support Forces, as verified videos also showed. In Omdurman, a witness told AFP that people were chanting the slogan "one army, one nation."