ISTANBUL

Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) claimed Wednesday to have gained control of a strategic border area with Egypt and Libya, as the Sudanese army retreated from the area.

A RSF spokesman said the rebel group captured the strategic "Triangle" area, a key junction linking Sudan, Libya, and Egypt, after clashes with army forces.

He claimed that the Sudanese army had sustained heavy losses in personnel and equipment during the clashes.

The army confirmed that its forces had retreated from the border area “as part of defensive arrangements to repel aggression.”

The army accused forces of Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar of supporting the RSF militia, calling it “a reprehensible act” and “a flagrant violation of international law.”

The RSF and the army have been locked in a brutal power struggle since April 2023, resulting in thousands of deaths and pushing Sudan into one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

More than 20,000 people have been killed and 15 million displaced, according to UN and local figures. However, US-based researchers estimate the actual death toll to be as high as 130,000.