Port Sudan, June 10(Darfur 24)
On Tuesday, the Sudanese Armed Forces( SAF) accused the Libyan National Army, led by General Khalifa Haftar, of attacking border garrisons in the (Triangle area), alongside the Rapid Support Forces RSF, which they considered an encroachment on Sudanese territory.
This comes as the RSF announced their control of the Jebel al-Uwaynat border area with Libya after the withdrawal of Sudanese army forces stationed there, according to postrd video on socialmedia.
The Sudanese Army spokesman said in a press statement that the Rapid Support Forces’ attack was supported by Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan forces (the Salafist Battalion), which he considered “a reprehensible and unprecedented gesture and a flagrant violation of international law.”
The statement indicated that the attack targeted “our border points in the Triangle area between Sudan, Egypt, and Libya with the aim of seizing the area.”
The statement added that “the direct intervention of Khalifa Haftar’s forces alongside the Rapid Support Forces in the war is a blatant aggression against Sudan, its land, and its people, and an extension of the international and regional conspiracy against our country, under the watchful eyes of the world and its international and regional organizations.”
It affirmed that Sudan will strongly confront the aggression and defend its national sovereignty.
Violent clashes erupted last Friday between the joint force affiliated with the Sudanese armed movements and the “Sabil al-Salam” battalion, affiliated with the Chief of Staff of the Libyan Army’s Ground Forces and loyal to Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, in the Jabal al-Uwaynat area, located southeast of the city of Kufra on the Sudanese-Libyan border. The clashes resulted in deaths and casualties on both sides.
Consistent sources confirmed to Darfur 24 that the Libyan battalion had moved and taken up positions at the Al-Uwaynat land crossing late last week, sparking tensions on the shared border.
This escalation comes amid growing tensions on the Libyan-Sudanese border, particularly after Libyan authorities closed the land border about a month ago following the kidnapping of three Libyan citizens in the area. The entry of Sudanese refugees was also halted, and crossings were closed to commercial truck traffic.
It is worth noting that the border triangle between Sudan, Libya, and Egypt is under the control of the Sudanese army and the joint force affiliated with the armed movements, while the Rapid Support Forces control large areas of the northern desert of Darfur, extending to the outskirts of the Al-Zarq desert.