SOLDIERS from Sudan’s army have recaptured the headquarters of the state broadcaster in Omdurman, the city just across the Nile from the capital, Khartoum, the army has said.
This is a symbolic breakthrough for the army in its 11-month civil war with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The RSF had held the headquarters since just after fighting broke out.
The conflict in Sudan has led eight million people to flee their homes and there are warnings of growing hunger.
Videos being shared on social media show soldiers celebrating outside the state broadcaster in Omdurman.
In a statement, the army called it a “major victory”.
But despite taking the building last April, the RSF had not been able to transmit from it and state television continued to show pro-army content, which was broadcast from elsewhere in the country.
Ever since the war broke out, the army and the RSF have battled for control of Khartoum and the nearby cities. Despite the United Nations Security Council’s call for a ceasefire during the holy month of Ramadan, intense fighting has continued in several parts of the capital.
“People are very rejuvenated – there is a lot of sentiment attached to national radio,” says the BBC’s Mohanad Hashim who previously worked for Sudan’s state broadcaster.
“It’s also a major defeat for the RSF because they were using the radio HQ as their stronghold. The Sudanese Armed Forces are going to milk this – it is a big victory for them.”
The conflict erupted last April following a disagreement between the army’s head, Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and RSF chief Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as Hemedti, over an internationally backed political plan to move towards civilian rule.
As well as displacing millions, the conflict has left Khartoum in ruins, caused a humanitarian crisis and triggered ethnically driven killings in Darfur, in the west of the country.
Several international attempts to broker a ceasefire have failed.