Sudan’s paramilitary RSF storms Heglig oilfield in West Kordofan

By Adel Abdelrheem and Mohammad Sio

KHARTOUM, Sudan/ISTANBUL (AA) – Forces of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan stormed the Heglig oilfield in West Kordofan on Monday, local sources told Anadolu.

The sources said the RSF fighters entered the field, which lies near the border with South Sudan, adding that army forces managed to evacuate engineers and workers to South Sudan.

Heglig serves as a central pumping station for transporting South Sudanese crude to Bashayer Port in Port Sudan on the Red Sea for export, the sources added.

RSF members posted videos on social media from inside the facility, claiming they had taken control of the oilfield.

Neither the Sudanese army nor the RSF have commented on the developments.

The attack came despite the RSF announced on Nov. 24 of a unilateral three-month humanitarian truce.

It is not the first time the RSF has targeted oil infrastructure. Sudanese authorities earlier accused the group of launching a drone attack on the Juba oil processing plant in Al-Jabalain, White Nile State, on Nov. 15, causing a temporary halt to oil exports.

The three Kordofan states – North, West, and South – have seen weeks of fierce fighting between the army and the RSF, prompting tens of thousands of people to flee.

Of Sudan’s 18 states, the RSF controls all five states of the Darfur region in the west, except for some northern parts of North Darfur that remain under army control. The army, in turn, holds most areas of the remaining 13 states in the south, north, east, and center, including the capital Khartoum.

The conflict between the Sudanese army and the RSF, which began in April 2023, has killed thousands of people and displaced millions of others.