DAMAZIN – At least eight people were killed and others injured in an attack by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on Um Dubban in West Bara locality of North Kordofan, while intense fighting erupted around Al-Keili in the Blue Nile region following a separate RSF ground assault, according to local and military sources.
Local sources said the casualties in Um Dubban occurred during an RSF attack on the area, as fighting intensified in North Kordofan following a major ground offensive launched by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and allied formations a day earlier.
In the Blue Nile region, military sources said the army was engaged in heavy fighting with RSF forces around Al-Keili after the paramilitary force launched a ground attack early Friday.
The sources said SAF units confronted the attacking forces and that clashes were continuing around the area.
Sudan Now could not independently verify the casualty toll in Um Dubban or battlefield developments around Al-Keili. The RSF had not immediately commented on the reports.
Fighting Follows Army Advances in North Kordofan
The latest violence in North Kordofan comes a day after the SAF General Command announced the capture of 11 areas and surrounding positions during a major offensive against the RSF.
The army said its forces and allied formations had taken control of Kajmar, Sharshar, Al-Baniya Al-Karima, Al-Fulaiyat, Awlad Hamma, Maqoudat, Rishan, Al-Qa’a, Ghabat Al-Naqd, Al-Kuwaikiti and areas surrounding Al-Mazroub.
The SAF said the advances followed heavy fighting and claimed that its forces inflicted losses on the RSF and pursued retreating fighters toward the approaches to Darfur.
It also said clearing operations were continuing in areas west of El Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan.
Previous operations by the army and allied forces had regained significant areas of North Kordofan, including Bara and Hamrat Al-Sheikh, and helped reopen the vital export route linking Khartoum State with North Kordofan.
North Kordofan is strategically important because it links central Sudan with Kordofan and Darfur and contains major routes used for civilian movement, trade and military supplies.
Blue Nile Front Reopens
The reported ground assault around Al-Keili marks another escalation in Blue Nile, where recent weeks have seen growing military activity, including drone threats and strikes.
Regional authorities recently said security forces were monitoring attempts to target Damazin, the regional capital, with drones and urged residents to remain calm.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) also reported that six civilians were killed after multiple drone strikes hit petrol stations in Damazin, causing severe fuel shortages.
The widening clashes in North Kordofan and Blue Nile highlight the increasingly dispersed nature of Sudan’s war, with fighting and drone operations stretching across several fronts far from the original battlefields in Khartoum and Darfur.
