The Sudanese army approaches the Jelei refinery north of Khartoum, and celebrations for the recapture of Wad Madani

Al Jazeera reported that the Sudanese army is continuing its operations to regain control of the Jelei oil refinery north of Khartoum, which is considered the largest oil refinery in the country, while popular celebrations spread throughout the cities and villages as the army regained control of Wad Madani from the grip of the Rapid Support Forces.

It quoted military sources as saying that the army - for the first time since the outbreak of the war - reached the vicinity of the Sudanese Oil Refining Company located north of the Rapid Support Forces stationed at the refinery, after it had taken control of the Bakash Mountains north of the refinery yesterday, Saturday.

The Jelei refinery and its surroundings witnessed a series of battles between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces, since the outbreak of the war between them, and as a result it was bombed several times, causing severe damage to it, and the two parties exchanged accusations regarding it.

This refinery is located in the historic Jelei area, about 70 kilometers north of Khartoum Bahri. It is considered one of the most important oil facilities in Sudan, and is also the largest refinery for refining crude oil in the country.

The Geely refinery stopped operating in October 2023 due to the war, followed by a halt in production at a number of fields producing crude oil feeding the refinery, including the Balila field in West Kordofan State.

The design capacity of this refinery is 100,000 barrels per day of diesel, gasoline and cooking gas, and provides 45% of the country's needs of petroleum products. The cost of establishing the refinery reached 7 billion dollars, and it is a partnership owned by the Sudanese government and the China National Petroleum Corporation.

Earlier, the Sudanese army's artillery shelling from Omdurman targeted Rapid Support Forces positions in Khartoum Bahri, amid advances by army forces in the capital after previous advances on other fronts.

In contrast, the commander of the Rapid Support Forces, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemeti), said that his forces lost a round, but not a battle.

Hemeti confirmed - in an audio recording broadcast by the Rapid Support Channel via Telegram - that his forces lost the city of Wad Madani, indicating that they will work to regain it again.

Since mid-April 2023, the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces have been waging a war that has left more than 20,000 dead. The war has caused the largest displacement crisis in the world and a major humanitarian crisis, according to the United Nations, which estimates that more than 30 million Sudanese, more than half of whom are children, are in need of assistance after 20 months of war.

Source: Al Jazeera + Agencies