The Media Line: RSF Claims Capture of Al-Tina Town on Sudan-Chad Border   

RSF Claims Capture of Al-Tina Town on Sudan-Chad Border   

By The Media Line Staff  

Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) said Saturday that their fighters had taken control of the town of Al-Tina on the country’s western border with Chad, marking another claimed territorial gain by the paramilitary group in its war with the regular army.  

The RSF said in a message published on social media that its forces had seized the town, which had earlier been believed to be held by the Joint Forces aligned with the Sudanese army. The statement was accompanied by video footage showing armed men celebrating beneath a banner reading “District of Al-Tina.”  

There was no immediate response from the Sudanese military to the claim. However, Darfur Governor Minni Minnawi, who supports the army, issued a sharp condemnation, accusing the RSF of targeting civilians. He denounced what he described as “repeated criminal behavior embodying the worst offenses against the innocent.”  

The reported capture of Al-Tina comes as fighting between the RSF and the army grinds on across the country nearly two years after the conflict erupted in April 2023. The war has shattered Sudan’s state institutions and displaced millions, with the United Nations estimating that tens of thousands have been killed and about 11 million people have been forced from their homes.  

The humanitarian toll has been especially severe in Darfur, where the RSF has expanded operations in recent months. On Thursday, the United Nations’ independent fact-finding mission on Sudan said the RSF assault on the Darfur hub of El Fasher last October bore “the hallmarks of genocide.” El Fasher had been one of the last major population centers in the region outside full RSF control before its fall.  

Since then, the paramilitary group has intensified activity in areas close to the Chadian border, increasing concern about the conflict’s spillover effects. At the end of last year, two Chadian soldiers were killed in incidents linked to violence along the frontier, underscoring the growing regional risks tied to the fighting.  

As rival forces continue to battle for control of towns and supply routes, large parts of Sudan remain engulfed in violence, with civilians caught between shifting front lines and an increasingly dire humanitarian crisis.