Sennar State in Sudan - Courtesy

Sudan’s paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF) said it has taken control of Sinjah, the capital of Sennar State on Saturday after capturing the 17th Infantry Division from the army.

The fall of Sennar occurred hours after the country’s de facto leader, Gen. Abdel Fatah al-Burhan inspected his troops in the front line to boost their morale.

“The Rapid Support Forces scored a new victory in the book of their continuous victories, by liberating the 17th Infantry Division of Sinjah, and our forces extended full control over the capital of Sennar State,” RSF said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

The state has experienced intense fighting which began on Tuesday evening, as the paramilitary group battles the army and local resistance forces amid civilians displacement.

Sennar residents confirmed that “the RSF have deployed in the streets of Singa,” according to French news agency AFP, which also reported scenes of army aircrafts flying overhead and anti-aircraft fire.

The Sudan war erupted in April 15, 2023, between powerful military commanders, current junta leader General Al Burhan, and RSF’s General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, following a power wrangle.

The conflict in the country of 48 million has killed tens of thousands, displaced millions and triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

The latest RSF breakthrough means the paramilitaries are tightening the noose around Port Sudan on the Red Sea, where the army, government and U.N. agencies are based.

On June 20, 2024, the paramilitary RSF also took control of el-Fula, the capital of West Kordofan state near South Sudan border, following hours of fierce battle with the army.

The RSF controls most of the capital Khartoum, Al-Jazira state in the center of the country, the vast western region of Darfur and much of Kordofan to the south.

An international rights group has accused RSF and allied militias of killing thousands of people in West Darfur state, in what it calls apparent “crimes against humanity” and “genocide”.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that RSF attacked on the Masalit tribe and other non-Arab groups between April and November 2023 were some of the worst atrocities in the ongoing civil war.

The African Union Peace and Security Council (PSC), in a recent summit, proposed an imminent meeting between General Al Burhan and his rival General Dagalo in the Ugandan capital Kampala to address the conflict.