JUBA, Dec 10, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Sudanese soldiers who fled the capture of their country's largest oil field by paramilitaries have laid down their arms in neighbouring South Sudan, the South Sudanese army said Tuesday.

The Heglig oil field is near the border with South Sudan in Sudan's southern Kordofan, which has become the epicentre of the Sudanese civil war after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces took control of the entire Darfur region in the west of the country in October.

The RSF, which has been locked in conflict with the regular army since April 2023, said on Monday it had taken control of the strategic area "after the Sudanese army fled". The group hailed the oil field's capture "a turning point for the liberation of the entire country, given its economic importance".

South Sudanese General Johnson Olony said in a video on social media that the fleeing Sudanese soldiers "surrendered to SSPDF yesterday (Monday) and are now with us in Panakuach", inside South Sudan.

"We have taken their military equipment," Olony said, adding that his forces were waiting on "instruction" from South Sudan's President Salva Kiir and Sudanese regular army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan "so that we can go to Heglig to take control of the oil facility".

The capture of Heglig, described by a former Sudanese minister as a "disaster", was also a blow to South Sudan, which held onto most of Sudan's fossil fuel deposits after seceding from it in 2011. The site houses the main processing facility for South Sudanese oil destined for export.

Despite its oil, the world's youngest country has suffered instability and a very high poverty rate for years.

Sudan's war between the army and paramilitary forces has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced 12 million residents, while also devastating the country's infrastructure.