Sudan's Rapid Support Forces on Wednesday accused the country's army of once again shelling the Al-Jili refinery, Sudan's largest oil refinery, north of Bahri city in Khartoum state, causing its "total destruction".
The RSF accused the army of "systematic destruction of public facilities and critical infrastructure" in the North African country, which has been embroiled in an armed conflict between the SAF and the RSF since April 15.
In response, Sudanese army spokesman Brigadier General Nabil Abdallah denied what he called the RSF's "false and mendacious" allegations that army forces had targeted the refinery, causing its complete destruction.
"Any damage caused to this refinery, in light of the keenness of the Rapid Support Forces militia to be heavily present there, makes them bear the responsibility of these damages, and they must bear the security and safety of this very important national facility," Abdallah said.
The SAF spokesperson stressed, "The Sudanese Armed Forces can never destroy important national facilities such as the Al-Jili refinery or any other national facility."
This exchange of accusations is the second involving the Khartoum Oil Refinery in recent weeks. On November 7, the SAF and the RSF traded accusations of causing a fire in a warehouse at the refinery. According to an earlier statement by the Sudanese army, the RSF have been occupying the country's largest refinery since the conflict began in mid-April and have continued to extract fuel from it.
Since April 15, large-scale and violent clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces have been taking place in various areas of Sudan as both sides attempt to take control of key positions, including the Presidential Palace, the Armed Forces' General Command Headquarters, the RSF Command Headquarters, and a number of military and civilian airports.
The disagreements between the Chairman of the Sudanese Sovereignty Council and Commander of the Sudanese Armed Forces, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the Commander of the Rapid Support Forces, Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, became public after the signing of the "Framework Agreement" on the transitional period between the military and civilian components last December, which recognized the army's withdrawal from politics and the transfer of power to civilians.
Dagalo accused the Sudanese army of planning to remain in power and not to hand over power to civilians after the army demanded the integration of the RSF under the umbrella of the national armed forces, while the army considered the movements of the RSF as a rebellion against the state.