Sudan paramilitary seizes key oil field: engineer

Port Sudan, Sudan: An engineer at Sudan s largest oil field said Monday that the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces had seized the facility along the c...

Port Sudan, Sudan: An engineer at Sudan's largest oil field said Monday that the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces had seized the facility along the country's southern border, forcing the evacuation of its staff.

Sudan's energy and petroleum ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the reported capture of the Heglig field, located in the resource-rich Kordofan region.

“This morning the RSF took control of the field. Our technical teams shut it down and halted production, and the workers were evacuated to South Sudan,” the engineer told AFP by phone from across the border.

Since April of 2023, the RSF has been waging a war with the regular army that has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced 12 million more and decimated the country's already fragile infrastructure.

The Heglig field is the country's largest, and is also the main processing facility for South Sudan's oil exports, which makes up nearly all of Juba's government revenue.