![Generals Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo and Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. [Photo by Mahmoud Hjaj/Anadolu Agency via AFP]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sudanspost.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/imageresize.jpeg?resize=800%2C533&quality=89&ssl=1)
This incident marks yet another escalation in the ongoing conflict that has gripped Sudan for nearly two years.
The SAF, in a statement released on their official Facebook page, accused the RSF of deliberately setting fire to the refinery.
“In continuation of its criminal and hateful behavior towards the country and its people, and after our forces tightened the noose on it on all combat fronts, the terrorist militia of Al-Dagalo deliberately set fire to the Khartoum refinery in Al-Jaili this morning in a desperate attempt to destroy the infrastructures of this country,” the statement read.
However, the RSF countered these claims, stating that the refinery was destroyed by SAF airstrikes.
“The ongoing aerial bombardment of the refinery, the latest of which was this morning, which led to its destruction, represents a full-fledged war crime,” the RSF said in a statement posted on its telegram account.
The Al-Jaili refinery is located approximately 70 kilometers north of the Sudanese capital, Khartoum.
Earlier this month, the SAF and its allied forces achieved a significant victory by recapturing the strategic city of Wad Madani from the RSF. This development could potentially shift the momentum in the ongoing conflict.
The current conflict erupted in April 2023 after a power struggle between the SAF, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the RSF, commanded by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti).
Both forces had previously collaborated in the 2021 coup that ousted the civilian government.
The fighting has devastated Sudan, plunging half of the population into hunger and triggering a massive displacement crisis.
