The Sudanese army says it has broken a near two-year siege imposed by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on the key southern state capital of el-Obeid. The breakthrough came hours after the RSF signed a political charter in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, to establish a breakaway government in areas under its control.

Sudan’s military on Sunday broke a more than yearlong siege on the crucial city of Obeid, restoring access to a strategic area in the south-central region and strengthening crucial supply routes in its nearly two years of war against a notorious paramilitary group,