The Sudanese military and allied armed groups launched an offensive on key Al-Jazirah state capital Wad Madani, entering the city after more than a year of paramilitary control, the army said.
The armed forces "congratulated" the Sudanese people in a statement on Saturday on "our forces entering the city of Wad Madani this morning".
Sudan's army and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitaries have been at war since April 2023, leading to what the UN calls the world's worst displacement crisis and declarations of famine in parts of the northeast African country.
A video the army shared on social media showed fighters claiming to be inside Wad Madani, after an army source told AFP they had "stormed the city's eastern entrance".
The footage appeared to be shot on the western side of Hantoub Bridge in northern Wad Madani, which has been under RSF control since December 2023.
The office of army-allied government spokesman and Information Minister Khalid al-Aiser said the army had "liberated" the city.
Celebrating the army operation
With a months-long communications blackout in place, AFP was not able to independently verify the situation on the ground.
"The army and allied fighters have spread out around us across the city's streets," one eyewitness told AFP from his home in central Wad Madani, requesting anonymity for his safety.
Eyewitnesses in army-controlled cities across Sudan reported dozens taking to the streets celebrating the army military operation.
In the early months of the war between the army and the RSF, more than half a million people had sought shelter in Al-Jazira, before a lightning offensive by paramilitary forces displaced upwards of 300,000 in December 2023, according to the United Nations.
Most have been repeatedly displaced since, as the feared paramilitaries - which the United States this week said have "committed genocide" - moved further and further south.
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