Looking back: The siege of El Obeid

3 March 2025

Last week, after nearly two years of encirclement by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, Sudan’s army managed to break the prolonged siege by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of El Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan State. 

On 23 February, the army’s “Hunter” mobile force, soldiers largely linked from the 16th Infantry Division in Nyala, South Darfur State, entered El Obeid and linked to the formerly besieged 5th Infantry Division army headquarters within the city. The same force managed to retake the town of Um Rawaba and Rahad from the RSF along the way. A strategic city with an airport, El Obeid connects the states of Kordofan and Darfur to the capital, Khartoum. The RSF have sought control of El Obeid from the beginning of the war, given its strategic location connecting the states of Kordofan and Darfur regions to the capital, Khartoum, and the central states.

“I was surprised by the lifting of the siege—it was not expected,” says one young lady residing in El Obeid, requesting anonymity for security reasons. “The spread of the Rapid Support Forces in the Kordofan region, especially from the southern parts of El Obeid, was constantly increasing, but this is the reality of war—nothing can be predicted.”

Local residents of El Obeid hope these latest military developments will ensure greater humanitarian access and channels of movement after enduring some of the harshest blockades witnessed in Sudan’s ongoing conflict.

According to local residents, there has been a noticeable decrease in prices for certain goods, and communication lines are functioning—but critical infrastructure problems in terms of accessing reliable water and electricity remain. 

The longest siege

Entrapped by either the RSF or bandits, El Obeid residents would need days to travel to the capital area, a trip that would typically take 3-5 hours prior to the war, one resident told Ayin.

“I believe this has been the longest siege in all of [Sudan’s] history—it’s longer than Al-Mahdi’s Khartoum siege,” said Abdul Wahab Muhammad, head of North Kordofan State’s Workers’ Union, before the army’s break of the siege. “El-Obeid has been economically besieged in a terrifying manner.” The above documentary reflects on the huge challenges El Obeid citizens faced during the RSF siege.