Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied fighters have moved into Kurmuk, a strategically vital town on the Ethiopian border, as government and military sources told Al Jazeera that army troops withdrew from the area.
The RSF and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement – North (SPLM-N) entered Kurmuk in Blue Nile State on Thursday, according to the sources, while Sudanese army forces began pulling back and repositioning.
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An RSF statement said its coalition had dealt heavy losses to army troops in Kurmuk, compelled them to retreat and captured weapons and ammunition.
Later, Kurmuk’s local administration said the town had endured three days of intense attacks, including drone strikes and artillery bombardments that it said came from “the regional neighbourhood”.
The administration said the army was still resisting the assault “with steadfastness and bravery” to protect Kurmuk, its population and public institutions.
Kurmuk sits along a key cross-border route connecting Ethiopia to Blue Nile State and the broader Nile Valley, giving the town significant strategic value.
“The RSF advanced into the town with the army withdrawing and repositioning outside,” Al Jazeera correspondent Almigdad Alruhaid reported from Khartoum, citing military and government sources.
The RSF captured Kurmuk in March, before Sudanese army forces retook the town last month.
Sudan’s current war began in April 2023, when fighting erupted between the army and the RSF over plans to incorporate the paramilitary force into the regular military.
The conflict has killed tens of thousands and driven nearly 15 million people from their homes, either through displacement inside Sudan or flight abroad, according to UN figures, local authorities and academic estimates.
North Kordofan attack
In another development, Sudan’s army said it had repelled an RSF assault on Jabra al-Sheikh, a major town in North Kordofan.
Military sources told Al Jazeera that the paramilitary group attacked the town with heavy artillery and drones. They said army forces captured several RSF fighters and killed dozens during the fighting.
The army said in a statement that more than 250 combat vehicles took part in the RSF assault.
Jabra al-Sheikh is an important regional transport hub. Holding the town could give the RSF a base from which to pressure el-Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan, as well as Omdurman near Khartoum.
The fighting followed a coordinated RSF drone offensive on Wednesday that targeted five army-held cities located hundreds of kilometres apart.
Two people were killed in el-Obeid and the city’s market was brought to a standstill, according to Emergency Lawyers, a rights group that documents atrocities committed by both sides.
More than 200,000 people have been killed across Sudan, aid workers estimate, in a conflict the UN has described as a “war of atrocities”. The war has also produced the world’s largest hunger and displacement crises.
