Sudan Nashra: Military moves warplanes to Eritrea, strikes Nyala, opens new front in North Kordofan Hemedti renews accusations against Egypt, threatens to strike north

Mada

6 hours ago

On Sudan's eastern coast, the military-led government in Port Sudan is swiftly moving to reshape the political landscape following the appointment of a new prime minister and the containment of a wave of drone strikes on the city as the war shifts from central Sudan to Kordofan.
Still, the drone attacks that began on May 4 and hit both civilian and military targets in Port Sudan forced the military to relocate its warplanes to neighboring Eritrea, fearing further strikes, according to security sources who spoke to Mada Masr. The move was followed by a visit to Port Sudan by a high-level Ethiopian intelligence delegation, during which concerns were raised about the growing rapprochement between Sudan and Eritrea — a development viewed with increasing unease in Addis Ababa amid rising tensions with Asmara over Ethiopia's push for maritime access.
Meanwhile, the military continues to bombard key RSF positions in Nyala, South Darfur — the paramilitary group's main stronghold in the Darfur region.
On the ground, the military has opened a new front in North Kordofan State, seizing the momentum after expelling the RSF from their last positions in Omdurman, bordering the state. Military units are pushing along the Saderat road in a bid to capture Bara, the largest city under RSF control in North Kordofan.
Diplomatically, several informed Sudanese sources told Mada Masr that the United Arab Emirates has reengaged Sudan through Egypt, Ethiopia, and the Arab League, seeking to mediate a political settlement. As part of its proposal, Abu Dhabi is asking to revive its suspended economic projects in Sudan while also pressing to sideline Islamist groups in the country's political landscape.
Meanwhile, RSF Commander Mohamed Hamdan 'Hemedti' Dagalo renewed his accusations in a speech on Monday that Egypt is backing the Sudanese Armed Forces, claiming it has supplied the military with eight aircraft. Domestically, Hemedti also threatened to expand RSF operations into northern and eastern Sudan — including Port Sudan and Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan.
Military pushes from Omdurman into North Kordofan, RSF attacks Babanusa, West Kordofan
Following its capture of the last RSF strongholds in western Omdurman on May 20, the military advanced into the northern parts of North Kordofan State.
Military units moved along the Saderat road linking Omdurman to Bara, reaching northern North Kordofan, a field source told Mada Masr. By Sunday evening, they took control of Rahid al-Nuba in Gabrat al-Sheikh locality — a town previously held by the RSF and used as a fallback position following their defeat in Omdurman, along with other areas.
The military also launched a series of drone strikes on Sunday targeting RSF positions and gatherings in the cities of Bara and Gabrat al-Sheikh, north and northwest of the capital Obeid, the source said. Several RSF combat vehicles withdrew from towns at the edges of the area, retreating toward Mazroub and Sodary en route to Darfur.
Meanwhile, military operations resumed for the first time in months in Babanusa, West Kordofan. A local source told Mada Masr that clashes broke out on Tuesday in the city, which houses the military's 22nd Infantry Division.
RSF fighters infiltrated the eastern outskirts of Babanusa, engaging in several hours of combat before retreating under heavy artillery fire from the 22nd Division, which destroyed several of their vehicles, the source said.
According to the source, the RSF may attempt another attack on the city. The recent infiltration and clashes were likely intended to test the military's defenses and identify potential vulnerabilities.
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Military drone strikes target RSF positions in Nyala, South Darfur
The military continues to strike RSF positions in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur and the paramilitary group's largest stronghold.
The RSF developed a military airbase and strategic cargo facilities at the Nyala International Airport earlier this year, a senior military officer previously told Mada Masr. RSF Deputy Commander Abdel Rahim Dagalo also moved the group's command to Nyala and has been working to designate the city as the administrative capital for the paramilitary group, according to an RSF military source who spoke to Mada Masr in April. Dagalo is now present in the northern outskirts of the city, a local source said.
Over the past week, military drones have carried out multiple airstrikes in Nyala, most recently on Wednesday, targeting RSF positions and gatherings throughout the city, a second local source told Mada Masr.
A strike on Sunday hit an RSF position near the city's central market. Strikes followed on Wednesday morning, targeting areas in and around the Nyala airport shortly after a plane landed, sending plumes of smoke into the air, according to the source.
An eyewitness in Nyala confirmed hearing explosions from the city's eastern side, where the airport is located, and said a drone strike hit a plane on the runway that morning.
Two other residents told Mada Masr they no longer hear fighter jets overhead during attacks, as they previously did, suggesting that recent strikes are being conducted exclusively by drones.
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RSF Commander Mohamed Hamdan 'Hemedti' Dagalo has once again accused Egypt of backing the military, claiming Cairo supplied their forces with eight aircraft, the locations of which are known to the RSF, he said.
In a speech on Monday, Hemedti said the RSF targeted those aircraft during its attacks on Port Sudan in May, implying his forces were behind the strikes, although no official statement claiming responsibility was made at the time.
Hemedti has repeatedly accused Egypt of directly participating in military operations against his forces. In May 2024, he told Asharq News that the Egyptian Air Force had targeted RSF troops in the Karrari locality in Omdurman. Later in October, he claimed that Egyptian aircraft had bombed his forces at Jebel Moya during the battles that ended in the RSF's defeat.
In his Monday speech, Hemedti declared that the RSF is preparing to launch attacks on several areas under military control, including Port Sudan. He said the war has entered 'a new phase' and issued threats to strike targets in central and northern Sudan, naming Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan, and Northern State, which he described as a stronghold of Islamist supporters of ousted President Omar al-Bashir. He also reiterated allegations that the military has used chemical weapons against RSF fighters.
Hemedti also said that while the military concentrated significant resources and personnel in the Sayyad mobile unit in a bid to retake the cities of Khawi, Nuhud, Daein, and Fasher, they eventually lost them to the RSF. He said his forces are now ready to move toward Obeid and Northern State, calling on civilians not to evacuate but only close their shops and remain in their homes.
But a former military officer told Mada Masr that Obeid is fully secured. The military's operations in Kordofan — particularly in Khawi and Debeibat — are being carried out according to a carefully planned strategy designed to draw RSF fighters into a designated battlefield and gradually wear them down before pushing further into western Sudan, according to the officer.
A high-level Ethiopian security delegation arrived in Port Sudan last week to discuss mediation efforts between Sudan's military-led government and the United Arab Emirates over Abu Dhabi's backing of the RSF, while also aiming to defuse rising tensions in the Horn of Africa.
Ethiopian intelligence chief Radwan Hussein and former Tigray regional leader Getachew Reda touched down at Port Sudan airport on June 1, where they were received by Sudan's intelligence chief Ahmed Ibrahim Mufaddal.
Sudan has increasingly found itself caught in the widening rift between Ethiopia and Eritrea, particularly as Port Sudan has recently received military support from Asmara in the wake of a spate of drone attacks on the administrative capital. Eritrean support, in the form of warships deployed to the coast of Sudan and, sources tell Mada Masr, hosting Sudanese fighter jets, was crucial in absorbing the unprecedented wave of drone attacks that began on May 4 and lasted nearly ten days.
In the wake of this deepening relationship, Ethiopia moved to address its concerns about the possible role that eastern Sudanese rebel groups — many with cross-border ties to Eritrea — could play in any future confrontation between the two countries, according to a Sudanese intelligence source.
Ethiopia has long been pushing to secure access to the Red Sea via Eritrean territory — a demand the landlocked country considers existential. Asmara, however, sees any such arrangement as a red line, fueling fears that the dispute could spiral into armed conflict between the two countries.
Ties between Khartoum and Asmara have recently deepened, with growing political and military coordination. A senior military official at the Osman Digna airbase told Mada Masr that Sudan has relocated all of its fighter jets stationed at the base in Port Sudan to Eritrean airports as a precaution against potential further RSF attacks. The aircraft are currently undergoing full maintenance, they said.
The Eritrean navy had also previously dispatched warships to the Sudanese military and trained thousands of fighters from Darfur's armed movements, many of whom have joined the joint force currently active in key battles across Kordofan and Darfur.
As regional powers continue to vie for influence in the Horn of Africa, tensions between Ethiopia and Eritrea have entered a second week of public escalation. Ethiopia insists on what it calls its 'legitimate right' to maritime access, repeatedly pointing to the Eritrean port of Assab on the Red Sea — a port Asmara views as a symbol of national sovereignty and firmly off the negotiating table.
A Sudanese Foreign Ministry official, speaking to Mada Masr, warned that the current crisis could mark a turning point in relations between Eritrea and Ethiopia, potentially reshaping regional alliances. While direct military confrontation appears unlikely for now, the official warned that the ongoing war of words could lead to unintended clashes.
Radwan's visit also signaled Ethiopia's renewed attempt to mediate between Khartoum and Abu Dhabi — a track first launched during Abiy Ahmed's 2024 visit to Port Sudan, which paved the way for the first phone call between Transitional Sovereignty Council (TSC) Chair and military Commander-in-Chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed since the war began and accusations emerged over Emirati involvement in the Sudanese war.
A senior official at Sudan's Foreign Ministry said Ethiopia is now acting as an intermediary on behalf of the UAE in Sudan. A Sudanese intelligence source confirmed that during his visit, Radwan proposed Ethiopian mediation to help mend the fractured ties between Khartoum and Abu Dhabi.
Ethiopia maintains close ties with the UAE, hosts several Sudanese opposition groups and initially adopted a hardline position against Sudan's military leadership at the onset of the war. But Addis Ababa has since begun recalibrating its position — a shift that started with Ahmed's July 2024 visit to Port Sudan, which made him the first foreign leader to visit the country since the outbreak of fighting.
The UAE has laid out conditions for engaging in negotiations with Sudan, according to a source in the Transitional Sovereignty Council. The source said Abu Dhabi has conveyed its position through intermediaries, which they did not name, with two primary demands: restoring Emirati investments in Sudan and excluding Islamists from the country's political landscape.
According to the source, these conditions reflect the UAE's longstanding position, which remained unchanged since the secret negotiations held in January in Manama, Bahrain. Despite shifting military and political dynamics on the ground, the source added, Abu Dhabi's expectations remain disconnected from the current realities in Sudan, particularly given its continued support for the RSF.
Deputy Armed Forces Commander Shams Eddin al-Kabashi and a delegation from the RSF — reportedly led by RSF commander Abdel Rahim Dagalo — had held talks in the Bahraini capital of Manama throughout January. Officials from Egypt's General Intelligence Service, the US Central Intelligence Agency, and representatives from the UAE and Saudi Arabia were also present, another source in the TSC told Mada Masr earlier this year.
The UAE had backed a draft agreement brokered during those talks that included 22 provisions, among them: integrating the RSF into a unified national army, arresting individuals wanted by the International Criminal Court, and dismantling the Islamist system that had ruled Sudan for three decades. Burhan rejected the framework.
But the UAE has kept communication channels open with Sudan's military leadership, the first TSC source said, noting that contact has been maintained via Egypt, the Arab League, and Ethiopia. The source added that the UAE may be pulling back from its earlier bet on the RSF's ability to take over in Khartoum and is now starting to distance itself from the group.
This comes amid the first significant diplomatic move on Sudan by the new US administration — one in which the UAE took a seat at the table.
On Tuesday, US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau and Senior Advisor for African Affairs Massad Boulos held a meeting in Washington with the ambassadors of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the UAE — Reema Bandar al-Saud, Moataz Zahran, and Youssef al-Otaiba, respectively — focused on the ongoing war in Sudan.
According to a statement from the US State Department, Landau warned that the conflict threatens shared regional interests and has fueled a deepening humanitarian crisis. He emphasized that Washington 'does not believe the conflict is amenable to a military solution' and urged the three members of the meeting to push the warring parties toward a ceasefire and negotiated settlement.
A humanitarian aid convoy en route to Fasher in North Darfur's Koma area was bombed on Monday night, triggering an exchange of blame between the warring parties. Meanwhile, UN agencies condemned the attack and called for a prompt investigation.
According to a joint statement released the following day by the World Food Program (WFP) and UNICEF, the assault on their convoy killed five aid workers and injured several others. Multiple trucks were burned, damaging supplies.
Darfur Regional Governor Minni Arko Minnawi accused the RSF of targeting the convoy after its crew refused to change course or unload supplies and insisted on continuing to Fasher.
Minnawi said that several aid workers were killed and supplies looted, with trucks that survived the fire being emptied amid military strikes on the RSF, an act he said was intended to falsely implicate the military in the attack.
He further accused the RSF of pursuing a genocidal campaign by various means, including deliberately targeting a convoy that had traveled thousands of kilometers to deliver aid to Fasher's residents.
The UN agencies' joint statement said the convoy, consisting of 15 trucks, was carrying life-saving food and nutrition supplies intended for children and families in famine-stricken Fasher. Hundreds of thousands of residents face high risks of malnutrition and starvation without urgent aid, the statement read.
As standard practice for humanitarian convoys, 'the route was shared in advance and parties on the ground were notified and aware of the location of the trucks.'
The agencies called for an immediate end to attacks on humanitarian workers, facilities, and vehicles and urged a swift investigation and accountability for those responsible.
The convoy had traveled more than 1,800 kilometers from Port Sudan and was in negotiations to complete its journey to Fasher when the attack occurred. 'It is devastating that the supplies have not reached the vulnerable children and families they were intended to,' the statement said.
This latest incident, it added, follows a series of attacks on humanitarian operations over the past two years, including last week's bombing of WFP's premises in Fasher.
The government and the RSF have traded accusations over responsibility for the attack.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Sudanese Foreign Ministry strongly condemned what it called a criminal drone attack by the RSF on the UN humanitarian convoy in Koma.
It called on the international community to condemn the RSF for this aggression and hold it fully responsible, along with its regional sponsor, implicitly referring to the United Arab Emirates.
The ministry warned that obstructing aid delivery to those in need puts civilians at risk of starvation in areas besieged by the RSF, including Fasher.
In response, the RSF issued a statement condemning what it described as a brutal attack by the military, adding that the convoy had been held up for more than 15 days in Dabba, Northern State.