Sudan army says repels joint rebel assault on Blue Nile town
August 28, 2026 (ED DAMAZIN) – The Sudanese armed forces said on Friday they repelled an attack on the historic town of Fazughli in the southeastern Blue Nile region by an alliance of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and an allied rebel group.
Major General Ismail El Tayeb, commander of the army’s 4th Infantry Division, visited frontline positions in Fazughli to assess operational readiness following the fighting, the military said in a statement.
El Tayeb urged troops to maintain high vigilance in the area, following reports on Thursday that joint opposition forces had pushed toward the territory, historically known as the Kingdom of Fazughli.
The RSF has been fighting alongside a faction of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) led by Joseph Touka against the Sudanese army in Blue Nile since February.
Earlier on Friday, the allied anti-government forces said they had captured two strategic army bases at Bakori and Surkum, located southeast of the regional capital, Ed Damazin.
The alliance previously seized the key border towns of Kurmuk and Geissan near the frontier with Ethiopia, as well as the town of Amora, which hosts the army’s 13th Infantry Brigade headquarters.
Sudan Tribune could not independently verify the battlefield claims by either side due to security and communication constraints in the region.