Fighting flares in Sudan’s Kordofan as army claims gains

September 7, 2025 (EL OBEID) – Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) clashed in North Kordofan state on Sunday, with military sources saying the army had captured two key sites in a renewed offensive.

The fighting coincided with a visit to the region by senior general Shams al-Din Kabbashi, the army’s deputy commander, to inspect troops.

The offensive in Kordofan is part of a broader army strategy to push towards the neighbouring Darfur region and break a long-running RSF siege on El Fasher, a major city.

Military sources reported that the army recaptured the areas of Kazgeil and Fartangoul, located south of the state capital, El Obeid, and was advancing on multiple other fronts.

Control of the Kazgeil area, about 45 km south of El Obeid, has frequently changed hands between the warring sides in recent months.

The RSF had also seized the Fartangoul area, 36 km south of El Obeid on the road connecting North and South Kordofan, last July.

The army’s push south of El Obeid aims to reach Dilling, a city in neighbouring South Kordofan state that has been under a crippling RSF siege, leading to a severe humanitarian crisis.

The RSF, in a statement, denied the army’s claims of advances and said its own forces had destroyed an entire army convoy near Rahad al-Nuba, on the border with Khartoum state. It claimed to have inflicted heavy casualties and captured numerous vehicles and weapons.

Sudan’s army stated that it repelled an attack by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on the Rahid al-Nuba area, inflicting heavy losses in equipment, according to a statement from its military media unit in El Obeid.