The Sudanese army said on Monday that it had repelled an attack by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on the Jebel Kadam area in Kurmuk locality of Sudan’s Blue Nile state and remained in full control of the strategic area.
The army’s 4th Infantry Division, based in Damazin, said its forces had carried out an operation to secure the area, inflicting heavy losses in personnel and equipment on the RSF.
The division said military operations were continuing according to its field plans and urged residents to disregard what it described as misleading reports and rumours about the RSF taking control of Jebel Kadam.
The RSF did not issue an official statement claiming control of the area.
Unofficial reports circulated by RSF-affiliated media channels had earlier said that the paramilitary force had seized Jebel Kadam.
Sudanese military analyst Jamal al-Shaheed told Radio Tamazuj that the area has significant strategic importance because of its location along the eastern axis of Kurmuk, near Sudan’s border with Ethiopia.
Control of the area would give forces positioned there an advantage in surveillance and reconnaissance and allow them to monitor movements in the border region, he said.
Clashes in Blue Nile escalated earlier this year after the RSF and allied Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) fighters seized territory along the frontier with Ethiopia and South Sudan.
The army has been locked in war with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since April 2023, with the conflict recently expanding across eastern and southern regions.
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