RSF forces kill almost 300 in Sudan's North Kordofan, say activists
The RSF has been fighting the Sudanese army in that area, one of the key frontlines of a civil war that has raged since April 2023. The army has taken firm control of the centre and east of the country, while the RSF is working to consolidate its control of western regions, including North Kordofan.
The Emergency Lawyers human rights group said in a statement on Monday that the RSF had attacked several villages on Saturday around the city of Bara, which the paramilitary controls.
In one village, Shag Alnom, more than 200 people were killed via arson or gunshot. Looting raids of the other villages killed 38 civilians, they said, while dozens of others had gone missing.
The next day, the group said, the RSF attacked the village of Hilat Hamid killing 46 people, including pregnant women and children.
More than 3,400 people were forced to flee, according to the UN.
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IOL News
4 days ago
- IOL News
RSF intensify blow to army in Kordofan by downing drone and killing three senior commanders
Bayethe Msimang The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have dealt severe blows to the Sudanese army in Kordofan, recently downing an army drone and killing key commanders, highlighting the escalating conflict in the region, writes Bayethe Msimang Image: IOL Across various parts of the Kordofan region, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have dealt a series of crushing blows to the Sudanese army and its allies, including the joint armed movements and Islamist militias. Most recently, the RSF succeeded in downing an army drone in Al-Khawi locality in West Kordofan state. Sudanese media, citing informed military sources, reported that the RSF's air defense detected, tracked, and successfully shot down the reconnaissance drone operating over the area. Social media accounts affiliated with the RSF circulated footage showing the wreckage of the downed drone, following two other devastating strikes against the army. The first strike, a drone airstrike, killed several officers from the armed movements and the army, including Brigadier General Abbas Mohamed Turoni, the spokesperson for the so-called Sudan Liberation Forces Alliance – Abdullah Yahya faction, and Brigadier General Mohab Ahmed Mahmoud, head of moral guidance for the Fifth Division in El-Obeid and supervisor of the popular resistance in North Kordofan. This is not the first time the RSF has claimed to have shot down Sudanese army drones; such incidents have become increasingly frequent amid the escalating clashes in Darfur and Kordofan. In a painful blow to the armed movements allied with army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Jibril Ibrahim, head of the Justice and Equality Movement and Minister of Finance in the government of Kamel Idris, acknowledged the death of his movement's top military commander, Taher Arja, during the battles in Umm Sumaymah, Kordofan, according to the 'Ain Al-Haqiqa' website. The RSF launched an assault on Umm Sumaymah early on Sunday, inflicting heavy losses on the army and its allied armed factions. For some time now, the RSF has been attempting to seize control of El-Obeid city and push further toward the capital, Khartoum, with the battles against the army increasingly concentrated in Kordofan over recent months. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ In an implicit admission of repeated army setbacks, the Sudan Tribune reported yesterday that Abdel Khaleq Abdel Latif, the governor of North Kordofan and a known army loyalist, issued a decision banning the transport of goods and fuel outside El-Obeid. This move comes as RSF forces tighten their siege on the city, now surrounded from three directions. This decision reflects concerns that supplies intended for the army and its joint forces allies could fall into RSF hands as they close in on El-Obeid and other towns in the state. The RSF continues to launch drone strikes on El-Obeid intermittently, alongside ongoing attacks on army and joint forces positions. Army forces in El-Obeid remain trapped under a tight siege imposed by the RSF since the outbreak of conflict on April 15, 2023. On Sunday, the RSF declared its successes in the strategically important area of Umm Sumaymah west of El-Obeid, claiming a decisive defeat inflicted on al-Burhan's forces, with losses exceeding 470 killed, alongside the capture of large quantities of weapons and military equipment, while dozens of enemy combatants fled. * Bayethe Msimang is an independent writer, commentator and analyst. ** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media.
Eyewitness News
16-07-2025
- Eyewitness News
Survivors bury dead after RSF attack devastates Sudan village
PORT SUDAN - It took a full day for the villagers of Shaq al-Nom, in Sudan's North Kordofan state, to bury their dead after an attack by paramilitary fighters that left the village in ruins, a survivor told AFP on Tuesday. The Saturday attack by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) -- the paramilitary force at war with the regular army since April 2023 -- was part of a series of raids in recent days on villages in North Kordofan, some 250 kilometres (155 miles) southwest of the capital Khartoum. "On Sunday, we collected the bodies from the village streets and inside the houses, and we buried 200 bodies," Saleh Abdel Rahim, 34, told AFP. The Emergency Lawyers, a group that documents atrocities by both sides in the war, reported on Monday that nearly 300 people were killed in North Kordofan villages between Saturday and Sunday. Tolls are nearly impossible to independently verify in Sudan, with many medical facilities forced out of service and limited media access. "It was indescribable," Abdel Rahim said, using a pseudonym for fear of retaliation because he had fled to an area close to RSF positions. "Under artillery shelling, houses burned with their families inside," he told AFP via satellite internet connection to circumvent a communications blackout. Since it began, the war has killed tens of thousands and created the world's largest hunger and displacement crises, with 14 million Sudanese currently displaced inside the country and across borders. The Emergency Lawyers reported on Monday that paramilitaries had killed women and children, abducted civilians and looted livestock in the villages surrounding the RSF-controlled city of Bara. In Shaq al-Nom, "RSF vehicles arrived in the village, in an attempt to storm it" on Saturday under a hail of machine gun fire and drone strikes, according to Abdel Rahim. "We had no choice but to resist in defence," he said, adding that "all of the villagers of the Bara countryside have fled". The area is home to several armed tribes that have refused to pledge allegiance to the RSF. North Kordofan, key to the RSF's fuel smuggling route via Libya, has been an important battleground between the army and the paramilitaries for months. The RSF has tried to encircle the North Kordofan state capital of El-Obeid -- the only road link between Khartoum and the vast western region of Darfur, which the RSF has all but conquered. It has been unable, however, to seize the North Darfur state capital of El-Fasher despite an ongoing siege for more than a year. Sudanese analyst Kholood Khair told AFP that "they want to consolidate that road that links El-Fasher to El-Obeid and other parts of Kordofan, so effectively they're in a race against time to consolidate in the west before the rains come". Sudan's rainy season, which peaks in August, renders much of the country's roads inaccessible, making it impossible for either side to capture territory until the floods start clearing in September.
TimesLIVE
15-07-2025
- TimesLIVE
RSF forces kill almost 300 in Sudan's North Kordofan, say activists
Sudanese activists said on Monday the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) killed almost 300 people in attacks in North Kordofan state that began on Saturday. The RSF has been fighting the Sudanese army in that area, one of the key frontlines of a civil war that has raged since April 2023. The army has taken firm control of the centre and east of the country, while the RSF is working to consolidate its control of western regions, including North Kordofan. The Emergency Lawyers human rights group said in a statement on Monday that the RSF had attacked several villages on Saturday around the city of Bara, which the paramilitary controls. In one village, Shag Alnom, more than 200 people were killed via arson or gunshot. Looting raids of the other villages killed 38 civilians, they said, while dozens of others had gone missing. The next day, the group said, the RSF attacked the village of Hilat Hamid killing 46 people, including pregnant women and children. More than 3,400 people were forced to flee, according to the UN.
