Sudanese army breaks siege on strategic city
Sudan’s army says it has broken a nearly two-year siege imposed by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on a major town in the state of South Kordofan. The country has been roiled by a civil war that has killed thousands.
In a statement late on Monday, the military said its forces and allies “were able to open the road to Dilling by force and decisiveness” following a successful operation. The paramilitary group has yet to comment on the Sudanese Armed Forces’ (SAF) claim.
The RSF’s siege of Dilling, located north of Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan, began shortly after the war erupted in April 2023. Since then, clashes in the state have reportedly intensified, particularly after the paramilitary group allied with the SPLM-N, a rebel faction controlling territory in the region. In December, a drone strike on a UN logistics base in Kadugli killed six Bangladeshi peacekeepers, an incident that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned as “horrific” and “unjustifiable.”
Sudan descended into chaos in April 2023 when fighting erupted between the national army (Sudanese Armed Forces, SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). This occurred after months of tension between their commanders, army generals Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo ‘Hemedti’, respectively, over a planned transition to civilian rule. What began in the capital, Khartoum, as a power struggle has devastated the country, killing tens of thousands and displacing millions.
Regional and international peace efforts, including African Union mediation and Saudi–US talks in Jeddah, have repeatedly stalled. Sudanese officials have named Colombians and Ukrainians among mercenaries backing the RSF against the army. Officials have also accused Ukraine and the United Arab Emirates of involvement and recently claimed the European Union has an “incomplete understanding of the complex situation” in the country.
Khartoum has also accused authorities in neighboring Kenya of backing the RSF and has broken ties with the East African grouping IGAD amid mistrust of regional mediation. In July, TASIS, a political coalition aligned with the paramilitary, announced the formation of a rival government months after its members signed a charter in Nairobi. It named Gen. Dagalo as chairman of a 15-member presidential council, a move rejected by the UN and AU.
Residents in Dilling have reported widespread fatalities from drone and artillery strikes, with many left to survive on leaves and animal skins due to food shortages caused by the siege, according to Reuters. Others claimed that some had died after being unable to access essential medicines or leave the area to seek medical treatment.
On Monday, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk warned the warring parties to prevent the “horrific violations and abuses” committed during the capture of al-Fashir, the capital of North Darfur, from being repeated in Kadugli and Dilling.
According to the UN’s human rights office, more than 25,000 people have already been displaced across South Kordofan since late October when hostilities intensified.
Speaking at a graduation ceremony for the latest cohort of the General Intelligence Service of the Sudanese Armed Forces on Monday, army chief Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the de facto leader of the African state, vowed to “not allow any opportunity for a new rebellion.” He emphasized that restoring security and stability across the country is the military’s top priority.
