Sudan's army said on Sunday it had seized back control of the town of el-Gitaina, just south of the capital, from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and broken the paramilitary group's siege on the strategic city of el-Obeid to the west.

Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and allies have signed a charter that paved the way for the establishment of a parallel government, as Sudan's army made advances recently against the rival groups.

Activists said three days of attacks by the paramilitary group had killed more than 200 people in White Nile state, which has emerged as a key battleground as the army regains territory.

The RSF has seized most of the western Darfur region and swathes of the Kordofan region in an almost-two-year war, but is being pushed back from central Sudan by the Sudanese army.

Sudan's army and allied groups could face formidable battlefield challenges if the recent political agreement between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and a powerful faction of a southern rebel group becomes a military alliance,