in the latest reversal of a paramilitary offensive through the Kordofan region. South Kordofan state capital Kadugli, where the United Nations confirmed a famine last year, has been besieged for much of Sudan's nearly three-year war between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. "Congratulations to the people of Kadugli on the arrival of the armed forces," Burhan said in a brief interview aired by state television. "The army will reach every part of Sudan," he added. An RSF source confirmed the army advance and said the paramilitary would re-encircle the city. State broadcaster Sudan TV aired footage it said was of people in Kadugli celebrating and flashing victory signs as military personnel passed atop army vehicles. "This is a great day, people welcome the army, women ululated, even the children celebrated," Issa Tih, a resident of Kadugli, told AFP by phone. "We lived through incredibly hard times, but we thank God," he added. The blockade was enforced by RSF fighters and their allies, a faction of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North led by Abdelaziz al?Hilu. As famine closed in, around 80 percent of Kadugli's population, about 147,000 people, were forced to flee the city, the UN said last week. (Bssnews)