Sudanese army announces control over al-Jaili refinery north of Khartoum
Forces loyal to Sudan’s military under army chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan announced on Saturday they captured Sudan’s largest oil refinery, owned by Sudan’s government and the state-run China National Petroleum Corp.
The al-Jaili refinery sits some 60 kilometres north of Khartoum, the capital. The refinery has been subject to previous attacks as the RSF has claimed control of the facility since April 2023. Local Sudanese media report the RSF also surrounded the refinery with fields of landmines to slow any advance.
But the facility, capable of handling 100,000 barrels of oil a day, remained broadly intact until Thursday. On that day, an attack at the refinery set fires across the complex, according to satellite data from NASA satellites that track wildfires worldwide.
Satellite images taken by Planet Labs PBC on Friday for the AP showed vast areas of the refinery ablaze. The images, shot just after 1200 GMT, showed flames shooting up into the sky in several spots. Oil tanks at the facility stood burnt, covered in soot.
Thick plumes of black smoke towered over the site, carried south toward Khartoum by the wind. Exposure to that smoke can exacerbate respiratory problems and raise cancer risks.
In a statement released Thursday, the Sudanese military said the RSF was responsible for the fire at the refinery.
The RSF “deliberately set fire to the Khartoum refinery in al-Jaili this morning in a desperate attempt to destroy the infrastructures of this country,” the statement read.
“This hateful behaviour reveals the extent of the criminality and decadence of this militia … (and) increases our determination to pursue it everywhere until we liberate every inch from their filth.”
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres “is following with great concern the recent escalation of fighting in Sudan,” a statement from his office Friday said, specifically mentioning the oil refinery attack.
“The secretary-general urges the parties to refrain from all actions that could have dangerous consequences for Sudan and the region, including serious economic and environmental implications,” the statement said.
