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Sudanese soldiers flee to South Sudan after loss of strategic oil site
Sudanese troops who abandoned their positions at the country’s largest oil field have surrendered in South Sudan, according to the South Sudanese army. The retreat followed the takeover of the Heglig oil site by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a powerful paramilitary group that has steadily expanded its control in recent months.
Heglig, located in the far south of Sudan’s Kordofan region near the border with South Sudan, has become the latest hotspot of the conflict. Fighting intensified after the RSF seized the entirety of Darfur in October, shifting the front line toward the oil-rich border zone.
The RSF announced on Monday that it had secured the area “after the army fled,” calling the capture a “turning point” due to the site’s economic importance.
South Sudanese Lieutenant General Johnson Olony confirmed in a video published on social media that Sudanese soldiers had crossed the border and laid down their arms. He said the army had confiscated their equipment, though he did not give an exact count. Local media outlets reported that several hundred soldiers may have crossed.
The RSF later accused the Sudanese army of launching a drone strike on the oil field, claiming that the attack killed dozens of workers, engineers, and fighters. They also alleged that key facilities were destroyed. These claims have not been independently verified, and South Sudanese military officials declined to comment.
The fall of Heglig has been described by a former Sudanese minister as a “disaster,” with repercussions extending into South Sudan. Although the South gained independence in 2011 along with most of the region’s oil reserves, the Heglig site remains central to processing crude destined for export. Despite its oil resources, South Sudan continues to suffer from chronic instability and widespread poverty.
The war between Sudan’s army and the RSF has raged for more than two and a half years, killing tens of thousands of people and forcing around 12 million to flee their homes, while leaving much of the country’s infrastructure in ruins.
