CAIRO (Reuters) -The Sudanese army has broken a siege by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces of its command centre in central Khartoum, the army said on Friday, in what would be a major victory in the capital after nearly two years of war.
The RSF in a statement rejected the Sudanese army's claims it had advanced as "propaganda" designed to boost morale, and accused the army of spreading falsehoods through doctored videos.
Reuters could not independently verify either side's claim.
The war, which broke out in April 2023 due to disputes on the integration of the two forces, has killed tens of thousands of people, driven millions from their homes and plunged half of the population into hunger.
Sudan's capital, Khartoum, comprises three main cities -Khartoum, Omdurman, and Bahri - separated by the Nile River and collectively referred to as the triangular capital.
The army statement said it had successfully broken the siege of its Signal Corps camp, one of the largest military installations in the city, located in Khartoum Bahri. The troops then crossed the Nile to merge with forces in Central Khartoum, which had also been under siege.
The claimed advance would mark a major push by the army in the capital, where RSF forces have had a strong presence and a tight siege of the army's General Command, its Signal Corps camp, and the presidential palace.
Army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan visited troops in Al-Jili, north of Bahri, where army forces claim to have taken control of Sudan's main oil refinery.
The RSF, however, asserted that its forces had inflicted substantial losses on the army across multiple battlefronts and framed the army's claims as part of a longstanding pattern of misinformation.
In another development, fierce clashes erupted in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, between the RSF and the Sudanese joint forces, including the army, armed resistance groups, police, and local defense units.
The joint forces said they repelled an RSF attack on El Fasher early on Friday morning. The RSF has not commented on the El Fasher reports.
According to a statement, the joint forces said they inflicted heavy losses and said the United Arab Emirates had supported the RSF with military, logistical and diplomatic aid.
The UAE has denied claims of military assistance in the past and said its focus in Sudan has been on providing humanitarian aid.
In a statement later on Friday, an advisor to the head of the RSF, Ayoub Nahar, resigned and cut his ties with the group, attributing the move to the targeting of civilians.
"I have recently and conclusively verified the direct targeting of civilians by the Rapid Support Forces, whether in El Gezira state, North Darfur, or elsewhere," Nahar said.