Sudan’s army said on Friday it had captured Al-Mazroub, a town traditionally associated with the Majanin tribe in West Bara locality of North Kordofan state, after fighting with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) said its troops, supported by allied forces including fighters from the Darfur Joint Forces, had taken control of the area after heavy fighting. The army said RSF fighters had suffered heavy losses in personnel and vehicles.
The SAF urged residents of areas it said had been recaptured to return to their normal lives and said its forces would protect civilians and property.
Videos circulated on social media accounts linked to the army and its allied forces, and reviewed by Radio Tamazuj, appeared to show their fighters in Al-Mazroub.
The RSF could not immediately be reached for comment.
The advance comes as the SAF pushes across North Kordofan, where the two sides have fought for control of towns and key routes linking central Sudan with Darfur.
Speaking to Saudi-owned Al Hadath, Sudanese military analyst Jamal Al-Shaheed said Kordofan had become a major centre of military operations.
He said SAF forces had been advancing on several fronts since mid-September and that the capture of Al-Mazroub would strengthen the army’s position along routes towards Darfur.
Al-Shaheed said the conflict is increasingly focused on control of roads and supply routes rather than individual towns. He described Al-Mazroub as an important route towards Darfur.
The SAF has been fighting the RSF since April 2023, when a dispute over the integration of the paramilitary force into the regular army erupted into war. The conflict has killed and displaced large numbers of people and spread across much of Sudan, with Kordofan and Darfur among the main areas of fighting.
and then