Sudan’s army says it captured RSF stronghold in North Kordofan

SaveSharefacebookxwhatsapp-strokecopylinkSudanese soldiers have been fighting the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group since April 2023 [File: AP]By Al Jazeera Staff and AnadoluPublished On 2 Oct 20262 Oct 2026The Sudanese Armed Forces say they have taken control of al-Mazroub in North Kordofan state following fierce battles with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), marking a significant gain in one of the war’s main battlegrounds.In a statement on Friday, the military said fierce battles resulted in casualties among the paramilitary RSF forces, as well as heavy combat vehicle losses.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3The battle for Kordofan: The corridor linking Sudan’s east and westlist 2 of 3Washington’s diplomacy in Sudan has backfiredlist 3 of 3Ethiopia, Eritrea break ties: Does the conflict risk becoming regional war?end of list“The Armed Forces urge citizens in the liberated areas to rest assured and return to their normal lives,” the statement added.A Sudanese army source told Al Jazeera that al-Mazroub was the RSF’s largest stronghold in North Kordofan.Army Special Forces spokesman Mohammed Deidan told the Anadolu news agency that the city links the states of North Kordofan and West Kordofan and that, by seizing it, the army was advancing its goal of cutting the RSF’s supply lines.Fighting in Sudan’s Kordofan region has intensified since late 2025, turning it into one of the main battlegrounds in the war between the army and the RSF, now in its fourth year.The vast region – which comprises North, West and South Kordofan states – lies where the two sides’ areas of control meet, between the army-held central region and the RSF-controlled Darfur in the West.Since the war began in April 2023, one in five recorded attacks in Sudan has taken place in Kordofan.The army has the upper hand in the north, the RSF in the west, and South Kordofan remains contested.Adding another layer of ethnic friction to the country’s wider civil war, last month the Sudan Doctors Network accused the RSF-allied Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) of carrying out the artillery attack in the town of Dilling, in the South Kordofan province.The SPLM-N is a breakaway faction of the SPLM, the governing party of neighbouring South Sudan. Its leader, Abdel Aziz al-Hilu, has aligned his fighters with the RSF and joined ranks with the RSF-led parallel government in Sudan.