Sudan's Rapid Support Forces Advance on Strategic Border Town Near Ethiopia

Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces and allied paramilitary groups have advanced into the strategically important town of Kurmuk in Blue Nile State, near the border with Ethiopia, according to military and government sources speaking to Al Jazeera. The RSF and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement – North entered the area as the Sudanese army began to withdraw following intensive attacks involving drones and artillery shelling over three days.

An RSF statement reported that its coalition inflicted heavy losses on army troops, forced their withdrawal, and seized weapons and ammunition. Al Jazeera’s Almigdad Alruhaid, reporting from Khartoum, noted that the RSF advanced as the army repositioned outside the town, which sits on a crucial cross-border route linking Ethiopia with Blue Nile and the wider Nile Valley. The town had previously been seized by the RSF in March before the army recaptured it last month.

The ongoing conflict in Sudan, which began in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and the RSF, has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced nearly 15 million, according to UN figures, local authorities, and academic estimates. Elsewhere in the country, the army stated it successfully repelled an RSF assault involving more than 250 combat vehicles on the key transport hub of Jabra al-Sheikh in North Kordofan. Meanwhile, recent coordinated drone strikes by the RSF have targeted multiple army-controlled cities, worsening what the UN describes as a devastating war of atrocities and a severe humanitarian crisis.