Sudanese army claims gains against RSF in North Kordofan

The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) have announced the capture of a strategically important town in North Kordofan, a development the army says has weakened the ability of the rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to recruit fighters and move supplies through the region.

North Kordofan has emerged as one of the contested fronts in Sudan's civil war, which has pitted the army against the RSF since fighting broke out in 2023. Control over towns in the state has shifted repeatedly as both sides vie for territory connecting Sudan's east and west.

According to the SAF, the town's capture disrupts supply routes the RSF has relied on to move weapons, fuel and reinforcements, and could limit the paramilitary group's ability to draw new recruits from the surrounding area.

The claim could not be independently verified, and the RSF has not issued a public response to the army's announcement. Sudan's conflict has produced competing and at times contradictory battlefield claims from both sides throughout the war, making independent confirmation of territorial gains difficult.

The war between the SAF and the RSF, which grew out of a power struggle between Sudan's top generals, has killed thousands of people and displaced millions, triggering what aid agencies have described as one of the world's largest humanitarian crises.

Analysts have cautioned that control of individual towns does not necessarily signal a broader shift in momentum in a conflict that has seen front lines move back and forth over more than two years.