Fighting was also reported in Al-Fishar after the RSF issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the army to leave its last stronghold in the country.
The Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are engaged in fighting near the Al-Jili oil refinery north of the capital Khartoum.
The Sudanese army said it approached the strategically important refinery with reports of direct clashes with the RSF following a multi-pronged offensive north of Khartoum on Wednesday.
Eyewitnesses reported clouds of smoke obscuring the sky over large areas of Khartoum, and Sudanese social media activists circulated footage showing the Sudanese army seizing the entrance to the town.
“Over the past few days, the army has launched a serious offensive, moving towards the refinery,” said Al Jazeera’s Heba Morgan, reporting from Khartoum.
“It is clear that the military is trying to regain control, trying to take as much territory as possible … but has yet to gain control of the refinery.”
Fighting was also reported in al-Fishar, with tensions rising earlier this week after the RSF issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the Sudanese army to leave the town. After the ultimatum expired, the army carried out airstrikes on RSF positions, according to a military source who spoke to Al Jazeera.
Sources also reported clashes around the Zarqa building compound in Khartoum North, with both sides using heavy weapons.
South Sudan spillover
Sudan plunged into conflict in April 2023, when long-running tensions between army chief Abdul Fattah al-Barhan and RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan “Hemiti” Dagalo erupted into a conflict that has displaced some 12 million people.
As the war continues, the RSF and the Sudanese military accuse each other of war crimes, including targeting civilians and indiscriminate shelling of residential areas, which has left tens of thousands dead.
The United Nations refugee agency UNHCR said on Tuesday that more than 1 million people have been displaced by the Sudanese war in neighboring South Sudan. It added that the majority of the hundreds of thousands of people crossing the border are South Sudanese who previously fled the civil war in the new world country.
In a separate development, South Sudanese authorities have restricted access to social media platforms including Facebook and TikTok for at least 30 days after videos of alleged killings of South Sudanese citizens sparked unrest in Sudan’s Gezira state. Suspended for days.
At least 16 Sudanese civilians were killed last week after riots broke out across South Sudan, including the capital Juba, in retaliation for the alleged involvement of the Sudanese army and allied groups in Gezira’s killing.
The head of the National Communications Authority, Napoleon Adok, wrote to internet service providers on Wednesday and ordered them to cut services by midnight, saying the unrest in Sudan had “extremely affected the population of South Sudan.” has reached an unprecedented level of violence”.
