Sudanese army repels joint RSF-rebel attack on South Kordofan’s Dilling

March 1, 2026 (DILLING) – The Sudanese army on Sunday repelled a joint attack by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Abdel Aziz al-Hilu-led Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) on the city of Dilling in South Kordofan state.

The assault on South Kordofan’s second-largest city is the first of its kind since the army broke a month-long siege in January, reconnecting the area to North Kordofan.

Local sources told Sudan Tribune that a large force from the RSF and the SPLM-N launched a broad offensive that the army managed to push back.

Fighting was concentrated in the al-Taqma area, approximately seven kilometres east of Dilling, and along the national highway linking the city to North Kordofan.

The SPLM-N said in a statement that the “People’s Army and Rapid Support Forces” coalition seized the al-Taqma military garrison. The group claimed that army troops and their allies fled the position, abandoning military equipment and vehicles.

The movement also claimed to have cut the road between Habila and Dilling. However, army sources denied those reports, stating they had inflicted heavy losses on the attackers, destroying combat vehicles and motorcycles and killing dozens of fighters.

Aerial operations and shelling by the SPLM-N and the RSF on Dilling have intensified in recent weeks, causing dozens of civilian casualties and destroying service facilities.