Darfur Minawi says key RSF forces “eliminated” in Kordofan
May 14, 2025 (PORT SUDAN) – The governor of Sudan’s Darfur region, Minni Arko Minnawi, said on Wednesday that battles in West Kordofan state had “completely eliminated the main mobile forces” of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Minnawi, who also supervises a joint force fighting alongside the army, told Sudan Tribune that fighting around the Al-Khuwayy area over the past two days was part of a larger operation. “Al-Khuwayy is just a battlefield,” he said.
He claimed the RSF aimed not just to retake Al-Khuwai but to stop forces heading to Darfur, adding, “But what happened is that we broke their backbone.”
The RSF took control of Al-Nuhud and Al-Khuwayy in West Kordofan earlier this month. The army and the joint force briefly recaptured Al-Khuwayy on Sunday before the RSF seized it again. According to military statements, government-allied forces regained control on Tuesday after intense clashes.
Fierce fighting is ongoing in areas stretching from El-Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan, to the outskirts of Al-Nuhud in West Kordofan, pitting the army and its allies against the RSF.
Minnawi asserted that the route from Kordofan to El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, was now clear. “According to our information, Abdel Rahim Daglo, (deputy leader of the RSF) is now seeking to gather the remnants of his forces through ongoing mobilization efforts since yesterday,” he said, adding that the situation on the ground for the joint force and army was “reassuring.”
Sudan Tribune could not independently verify the battlefield claims.
Ahmed Hussein Mustafa, a spokesman for the joint force, said in a statement late Tuesday that troops in the Al-Khuwyy area had “lured the Rapid Support Forces into a well-laid ambush, where the battlefield turned into a mass grave for its elements.”
For weeks, army and joint force units have been preparing offensives from Omdurman and White Nile state to try and break the RSF siege on El Fasher.
Convoys of joint force vehicles have reportedly arrived in El-Obeid from Omdurman. An army mobile unit known as “Al-Sayyad” (The Hunter) is also active across large areas of Kordofan.