Sudanese army officials greet the crowd during a meeting with the city's governor supporters and members of the Sudanese armed popular resistance, which supports the army, in Gedaref, Sudan, on January 16, 2024 amid the ongoing conflict in Sudan between the army and paramilitaries. (AFP)

GEDAREF - Sudan's nine-month-old war has so far largely spared the country's east. But with the frontline inching ever closer, and reports of military training camps across the