The Sudan People’s Army has retaken Wad Madani, a strategic city about 200 kilometers (124 miles) southeast of the capital Khartoum, dealing a major blow to paramilitary forces Rapid Support Force (RSF).

“The leaders of the armed forces congratulated our people on the entry of our troops into Wad Madani this morning. They are now working to clear the remaining rebel strongholds in the city,” the military statement read.

This is from the army advanced After growing steadily in recent months, it entered Omdurman, the country’s second-largest city, last week. Wad Madani, a crossroads on the main supply highway connecting several states, has been under the control of Médecins Sans Frontières since December 2023.

However, Médecins Sans Frontières leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo insists the fighting is not over yet. “We lost a round today, but we didn’t lose the battle,” said Dagallo, also known as Hemeti.

More than 12 million people have been displaced since fighting broke out in April 2023 between the army and Doctors Without Borders for control of the North African country, making it one of the country’s worst-hit countries. The world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

So how important is it for the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) to recapture Wad Madani? Can the military repeat its recent successes, aiming to retake territory still under MSF control?

What is the strategic position of Wad Madani? Where is it located?

The city is the capital of Gezira State, located in the center of the country, south of Khartoum.

Al Jazeera’s Sheba Morgan says whoever controls agricultural and trading hubs will have easier access to other parts of the country.

“When MSF takes over Wadmadani in December 2023, it will be able to move to other parts of the country such as Sennar in the southeast, Blue Nile in the east and White Nile in the south,” Morgan said in Sudan Capital reported.

Hamid Kalafala, a Sudanese policy analyst and PhD candidate at the University of Manchester, said the city was also at “a very important point” through which supplies and other “logistical arrangements” could be made available to the capital.

“Whoever controls Madani has greater flexibility in terms of different supplies moving in and out of Khartoum,” Kalafala told Al Jazeera.

Early in the conflict, before Médecins Sans Frontières took over, the city was a haven for displaced families.

Since the MSF takeover, it has been the site of one of the bloodiest attacks on civilians by paramilitary forces, burning fields, looting hospitals and markets and flooding irrigation ditches.

Did the Sudanese army occupy the entire Gezira state?

No, MSF still controls much of the state, as well as almost all of Sudan’s West Darfur region and much of the south of the country.

The army took over the strategic city after intensifying its campaign to recapture Jezira in recent months after retaking the southern state of Sennar.

The military was helped in a turn of events in October, when Médecins Sans Frontières’ top commander in the state defected to the Singapore Armed Forces. The commander’s troops took part in Saturday’s operation.

Last week, the military advanced In the second city of Omdurman, several areas were seized from MSF.

How important was it to recapture the city of Wadmadani?

It marks a major turn of events in the war and another blow to Doctors Without Borders, which has had the upper hand over the military in nearly two years of conflict.

The army’s occupation will give it access to other parts of the country that MSF is now cut off from, such as Sennar, Blue Nile and White Nile states.

“Now that (RSF) has lost this territory, the progress it could have made will be impossible and its forces in these areas will be trapped between elements of the Sudanese army,” Morgan said.

“Wadmadani is also home to the Army’s 1st Infantry Division, so this will boost the morale of the army,” she added.

Morgan explained that when Médecins Sans Frontières took over the city, officers and soldiers complained that the leadership did not meet the standards of the Sudanese military and that the leadership should be replaced.

“Now that Wade Madani is back under the control of the Sudanese army, the army is likely to gain more support, especially its leadership, not only from soldiers and officers but also from Sudanese citizens,” she said.

Additionally, researcher Kalafala said retaking the city could help alleviate Sudan’s hunger crisis because the state has some of Sudan’s most fertile land and agricultural programs, while Médecins Sans Frontières bans most agricultural activities.

“Now people will have space to develop, farm, produce food etc. to solve the famine and food security crisis that is happening in Sudan,” he said.

Kalafala said the turn of events could also provide a long-awaited respite for the city’s residents, who “have been experiencing the most horrific human rights violations and atrocities committed by the (Rapid) Support Forces”.

Kalafala warned that the army still has a pattern of targeting pro-democracy activists in cities it has recaptured, which could be a worrying development if repeated in Wad Madani.

How much territory does the military now control?

In addition to Wadmadani, Sudanese forces control the north and east of the country as well as parts of the capital. The map below shows the areas of control between the Singapore Armed Forces and Forces Without Borders as of October 2024.

How did the people of Sudan react to this capture?

Social media footage confirmed by Al Jazeera showed Sudanese troops in camouflage uniforms in Wad Madani waving rifles in the air as they rode through the town on the back of trucks, their faces bared after claiming to “liberate” the city smile.

The local resistance committee, one of hundreds of democratic volunteer groups across the country coordinating frontline aid, hailed the development as an end to the “tyranny” of Doctors Without Borders.

Meanwhile, witnesses in army-controlled cities across Sudan said dozens of people celebrated jubilantly in the streets.

cities on the red sea coast port sudanVerified video also showed rowdy crowds waving Sudanese flags in celebration Strategic city has been captured Control from Doctors Without Borders.

In Omdurman, chants of “One Army, One People” broke out, a witness told AFP.