![Smoke billows from al-Jaili oil refinery north of Omdurman, the Sudanese capital's twin city, during battles between the Sudanese military forces and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), on January 15, 2025. [AFP/Getty Images]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/GettyImages-2193440746.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have claimed that they downed an Antonov military aircraft belonging to the Sudanese Army on Thursday in northern Darfur. The RSF released a video that it said showed the plane wreckage. Reuters could not immediately verify the images.
Sudanese Army officials were not immediately available for comment. The RSF has claimed to have downed planes used by the army previously, including a transport aircraft that came down in northern Darfur in October.
The leader of the RSF, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, said on Sunday that his war against the army was not over and his forces would return to Khartoum despite being largely driven out of the capital.
The paramilitary group, which has its stronghold in Darfur, was pushed back from most parts of Khartoum last month, having occupied them since the start of its war against the army nearly two years ago. The war erupted due to a power struggle between the army and the RSF ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule.
The fighting has ruined much of Khartoum, displaced more than 12 million Sudanese from their homes, and left about half of the 50 million population suffering acute hunger.
The death toll is difficult to estimate, but a study published last year said that it may have reached 61,000 in Khartoum state alone in the first 14 months of the conflict.
OPINION: The Sudanese Army may have won the battle for Khartoum, but the battle for Sudan is ongoing