Sudanese army retakes key city in North Kordofan state
February 17, 2025 (AL-RAHAD) – The Sudanese army on Monday regained control of the city of al-Rahad in North Kordofan state after days of fierce battles against the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Al-Rahad is the second city in North Kordofan that the army has retaken from the RSF in the past two weeks. On January 30, the army regained control of Um Ruwaba locality, the second largest city in North Kordofan.
“The city of al-Rahad is free after the defeat of the RSF forces,” the “Al-Sayyad” mobile media, a roving force affiliated with the Sudanese army, said in a video of the command and control room.
Al-Rahad, about 30 kilometres west of El Obeid, is a strategically located city and a major station on the Sudan Railways line that connects western Sudan with the cities of the east and centre of the country. It is also a market for agricultural crops and livestock. The RSF seized control of it in the early months of the conflict.
On Sunday evening, the army announced that its forces, coming from the city of Rufa’a in the eastern state of Al-Jazirah, had defeated the RSF in the “Al-Samih” area and inflicted heavy losses on them in terms of lives and combat vehicles. Army platforms displayed several captured vehicles.
In addition, army drones assassinated three of the most prominent leaders of the RSF in the Kordofan region in an airstrike that targeted an RSF convoy in the town of “al-Samih.”
Since the end of last year, the “Al-Sayyad” mobile force, mostly composed of soldiers from the 16th Infantry Division in South Darfur State, has been slowly advancing from its deployment sites in the Tendelti area in White Nile State towards the villages of North Kordofan. There, it led fierce battles against the RSF, which repeatedly hindered the force’s advance towards Um Ruwaba.
The army is seeking to end the siege imposed by the RSF on El Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan, which is suffering from humanitarian crises due to the restrictions imposed by the forces on the movement of humanitarian and commercial convoys.