Joint Force repels RSF assault on strategic Darfur border town

March 16, 2026 (TINA, North Darfur) — Sudan’s Joint Force of armed movements said on Monday it had repelled a major offensive by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on the town of Tina, a strategic gateway on the border with Chad.

The RSF has been conducting waves of assaults on Tina since February as part of a campaign to seize the final strongholds of the Sudanese army and its allies in North Darfur. The town is a critical hub for both commercial trade and humanitarian aid flowing from eastern Chad into the Darfur region.

Motwakil Ali Wakeel, spokesperson for the Joint Force, said in a statement that the military, the Joint Force, and local “Popular Resistance” volunteers successfully countered the dawn attack.

The Joint Force claimed it destroyed 57 combat vehicles across three RSF units and captured 39 others intact. Wakeel added that the RSF field commander was killed in the engagement and that survivors had fled the area.

Pro-Joint Force media outlets later shared video footage purportedly showing rows of destroyed technicals and captured military equipment, along with the bodies of several combatants.

The fighting in the border region has increasingly taken on a tribal dimension due to the complex social ties between communities living on either side of the Sudan-Chad border. Many local groups share cross-border family and tribal affiliations, heightening the risk of the conflict spiralling into localized ethnic warfare.

Control of Tina is considered essential for both sides, as it remains one of the few remaining entry points for supplies into North Darfur not fully controlled by the RSF.