Sudan's RSF Captures Strategic Border Town of Al Kurmuk in Blue Nile State

Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) announced on Thursday that its fighters have captured Al Kurmuk, a strategically located southern town near the borders with Ethiopia and South Sudan.

It is the second town in Blue Nile State that the group has captured this week, signalling a concerted push to drive the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) − its war adversary since 2023 − out of the region.

A statement by the RSF announcing the capture of Al Kurmuk gave no casualty figures but said its fighters chased SAF combatants out of the town and seized "large amounts" of hardware and ammunition. Videos shared online showed RSF fighters celebrating the capture of Al Kurmuk.

The RSF said on Tuesday that it had seized Qayssan, another town in Blue Nile State, where it is allied with a powerful rebel group. The SAF has not yet publicly commented on the loss of the two towns.

The significance of Al Kurmuk's location comes from its proximity to Ethiopia and South Sudan. Al Kurmuk is also less than 140km from Damazin, the Blue Nile state capital, and about 160km from the Roseires Dam on the Blue Nile, which is an important source of power for the country.

The capture of the two towns follows battlefield gains by the SAF in Kordofan, a central region where the most recent fighting has taken place since the army lost its last stronghold in neighbouring Darfur late last year.

Sudan's civil war broke out in April 2023 after months of tension between army chief Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan and RSF commander Gen Mohamed Dagalo boiled over into open hostilities. With the war now in its fourth year, tens of thousands are believed to have been killed and about 14 million displaced. The war has also created what the UN says is the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with an estimated 20 million people grappling with hunger.