Fighting intensifies in Sudan’s Kordofan as army pushes for Darfur

August 22, 2025 (EL-OBEID, North Kordofan) – Fierce fighting intensified between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) west of El-Obeid on Friday, as the army pressed an offensive aimed at reaching the besieged city of El-Fasher in Darfur.

The army’s advance from North Kordofan, now in its third day, is an attempt to break a months-long RSF siege on El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur. In response, the RSF has deployed heavy reinforcements to the outskirts of El-Obeid to halt the army’s progress.

“The army and its allies continued their push… engaging in what are described as the most violent clashes in months in the Abu Qaud and Umm Samima areas,” sources told Sudan Tribune. The areas are near the border between North and West Kordofan states.

Both sides posted videos online claiming battlefield victories. Platforms aligned with the army showed destroyed and captured RSF vehicles, while RSF-affiliated media broadcast footage it said showed the destruction of an entire army convoy in the Abu Qaud area.

The latest clashes follow an RSF ambush on an army reconnaissance unit on Wednesday, which killed several soldiers. Among those killed was Muhannad Ibrahim Fadl, a commander in the Al-Bara bin Malik Brigade, an Islamist-aligned faction fighting alongside the army.

North Kordofan is strategically vital as it serves as a crucial corridor to the wider Darfur region, most of which is controlled by the RSF, and connects it to the capital, Khartoum.