KHARTOUM, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on Wednesday exchanged accusations over attacking a major oil refinery near Khartoum.
The SAF accused the RSF of attacking the Khartoum Oil Refinery in Al-Jaili area, some 70 km north of the Sudanese capital Khartoum.
"Today (Wednesday), the rebel militia caused a fire in some facilities of the Khartoum refinery in Al-Jaili after attacking the refinery's control units," the SAF said in a statement.
The Sudanese army held the RSF responsible for the consequences of attacking the refinery, causing any damage to the facility, and hurting the residents of the surrounding area.
For its part, the RSF blamed the SAF of bombing the refinery.
"At dawn today, and for the fourth time, the SAF's warplanes bombarded Al-Jaili oil refinery, north of Bahri city in Khartoum State, completely destroying it," the SAF said in a statement.
Photos and videos clips posted on social media on Wednesday showed flames rising from the top of the Khartoum refinery in Al-Jali area.
This is the second time in which the refinery comes under bombardment within about a month, with both parties blaming each other for being behind the attacks on the strategic facility.
Sudan has been witnessing deadly clashes between the SAF and the RSF in Khartoum and other areas since April 15, killing up to 9,000 people by October, forcing more than 6 million displaced within and outside Sudan and leaving 25 million in need of aid, according to the Sudan situation report on Nov. 12 by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. ■