![A view of damage and destruction in Sudan's capital Khartoum on December 26, 2024. [Osman Bakır - Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/AA-20250115-36749530-36749519-SUDANS_21ST_MONTH_OF_CONFLICT_LEAVES_DESTRUCTION.jpg?fit=1197%2C800&ssl=1)
The Sudanese army said Thursday that it took control of Al-Sajana, a neighborhood south of central Khartoum, following battles with the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Anadolu reports.
“The Armored Corps forces have advanced into the Al-Sajana axis and secured Al-Hurriya Bridge, which leads to the city center,” according to a statement.
It marks the first time the army has reached the southern entrance of central Khartoum, bringing it closer to encircling the city center. The army has already been positioned west of central Khartoum for weeks and maintains a presence to the east, where its headquarters is located.
The army released video footage showing troops deployed in Al-Sajana and at the Al-Hurriya Bridge intersection leading to the Arab market in central Khartoum.
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The RSF has not issued a comment on the army’s statement.
Meanwhile, RSF territorial control has been shrinking as the army advances in central Sudan, including Khartoum and Al-Jazira states, and in the southern White Nile and North Kordofan states. The RSF remains dominant in four of Darfur’s five states but has not expanded into Sudan’s northern and eastern regions.
In Khartoum State, which consists of three cities, the army controls 90% of Bahri in the north, most of Omdurman in the west and 60% of central Khartoum, where the presidential palace and international airport are located.
Army forces have nearly encircled those strategic sites, while RSF fighters remain entrenched in neighborhoods in the east and south.
The army and RSF have been fighting a war since April 2023 that has killed more than 20,000 people and displaced 14 million, according to the UN and local authorities. Research from US universities, however, estimates the death toll at around 130,000.
Calls by the international community and the UN for an end to the war are mounting, with warnings of an impending humanitarian catastrophe as millions face famine and death due to food shortages. The conflict has spread to 13 of Sudan’s 18 states.
READ: Sudan accuses rebel faction of killing 433 civilians in White Nile State