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Sudanese paramilitary group the Rapid Support Forces said on Tuesday that it and its allies had seized control of the town of Kurmuk on the border with Ethiopia after "fierce fighting".
"Elite troops from the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) have succeeded in fully liberating the strategic town of Kurmuk," the RSF said in a statement.
On Tuesday morning, a representative of the army-aligned government in Damazin, the capital of Blue Nile state where Kurmuk is located, said "the situation in Kurmuk is critical and it's very difficult for the forces on the ground to hold their positions".
Fighting began on Sunday around the small border town in the far southeast of Sudan, which the army considers vital because it sits on one of the few roads to Ethiopia.