KHARTOUM – Darfur Governor Minni Arko Minnawi said forces allied with the Sudanese army would continue fighting until security is restored and civilians can safely return home, as military operations expand across North and West Kordofan.
Minnawi said the campaign was not aimed at seizing power or securing political gains, but at building a state based on the rule of law and strong institutions.
He pledged that allied forces would continue protecting civilians, property and what he described as Sudan’s unity and stability.
His comments come amid intensified fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and allied groups on one side and the Rapid Support Forces on the other around Al-Khuwei, Al-Nahud and western parts of North Kordofan.
The army and allied Joint Force said Tuesday they had taken control of Umm Marahik, near the border between North and West Kordofan, while field reports indicated further fighting around Umm Sha’ira west of Al-Mazroub.
Military sources also reported troop movements and reinforcements toward western North Kordofan.
In West Kordofan, army Special Operations Forces said they carried out an operation around Kharq Al-Dud, north of Ayal Bakhit in Al-Khuwei locality, destroying combat vehicles and capturing military equipment and rocket launchers.
The battlefield claims could not be independently verified.
The latest operations follow earlier army advances in Bara, Jabra Al-Sheikh, Umm Sayala and Al-Mazroub, as fighting increasingly shifts toward routes leading to Al-Khuwei and Al-Nahud.
Minnawi said the forces would continue despite what he described as mounting challenges, adding that their stated objective was a unified Sudan based on freedom, peace, social justice and equal citizenship.
He also said the safe return of displaced civilians and protection of their homes and property remained central to that commitment.
