SUDANESE ARMY SAYS IT HAS ‘TAKEN CONTROL’ OF NATIONAL RADIO AND TELEVISION HQ

Tue 12 March 2024:

The Sudanese Army said today that it has taken control of Sudan’s national radio and television headquarters from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Reuters has reported.

The building is in Omdurman, across the River Nile from Khartoum and part of Sudan’s wider capital. There was no immediate comment from the RSF.

Earlier this week, senior Sudanese Armed Forces General Yasser al-Atta has said there will be no truce in Sudan during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan unless the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group leaves the homes and sites of civilians.

The statement follows an appeal by the United Nations Security Council for a truce during Ramadan, which begins this week. The RSF said it welcomed the truce call.

Al-Atta’s statement, issued on the army’s official Telegram channel on Sunday, cited recent military advances by the army in Omdurman, part of Sudan’s wider capital.

It said there could be no Ramadan truce unless the RSF complied with a commitment made in May last year at Saudi and US-mediated talks in Jeddah to withdraw from civilian homes and public facilities.

It also said Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the RSF leader commonly known as Hemedti, should not play a role in Sudan’s future politics or military.

Fighting between the army, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the RSF erupted in mid-April 2023.

Tens of thousands of people have since been killed, 8.3 million have been forcibly displaced, and the UN says nearly 25 million people – half of Sudan’s population – are in need of aid.

The army has been on the back foot militarily for much of the conflict. In the first days of fighting, the RSF occupied large parts of the capital, Khartoum.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

______________________________________________________________

FOLLOW INDEPENDENT PRESS:

WhatsApp CHANNEL
https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaAtNxX8fewmiFmN7N22