Analysis: Sudan’s Kordofan War, the fiercest front lines

28 November 2025

Military battles between the army and the Rapid Support Forces in Kordofan are escalating day after day. Both sides are engaged in what resembles a race to control the strategic region that includes Sudan’s main oil fields and forms a buffer zone between Darfur and the east of the country. The already exasperated local population fears that the violent confrontations will continue, exacerbating a deteriorating humanitarian situation in the region.

The army is focusing on the Kordofan area to seize control of the oil-rich region and as an entry point into the Darfur region, controlled by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Consequently, the RSF aims to strengthen their control over the region and stop the army from advancing further west into Darfur.

According to Ayin’s monitoring, the map of field control in Kordofan has not changed considerably since the intensification of battles took place in the region last May. 

The army

In North Kordofan State, the army controls four major towns: El Obeid, Umm Ruwaba, Rahad Abu Dakna, and Wad Ashana, which are all located on the paved road leading to Kosti in White Nile State. It also controls all local government headquarters and major cities in South Kordofan State, with the exception of Habila. IIn West Kordofan State, only two areas remain under military control: the headquarters of the 22nd Division in Babanusa and the 90th Brigade in the oil-rich town of Heglig.

A senior military source told Ayin that the army had mobilised its fighters in North Kordofan’s capital, El Obeid, to convert the city into a logistics and control centre. The Fifth Camel Corps Command Complex, located in the southeastern part of the city, adjacent to the airport, houses the main army elements. Allied armed movements are in the western and northern parts of the city in a bid to target the RSF forces located in towns south of the city.  

Other allied groups, such as the Sudan Shield Forces and the Islamic Al-Baraa Brigades, are massing in the city of Al-Duwaym and the Al-Alqa area in White Nile State. The army has also deployed military reinforcements in towns southeast of El Obeid, the military source said. 

While neither warring party has set up military bases in areas southwest and southeast of Bara, towns and villages have become hotspots for the conflict, forcing a mass exodus of their inhabitants, local residents said.

Former army officer Dr Amin Majzoub says the RSF are fighting disruptive conflicts in Kordofan to delay the entry of the armed forces to Darfur, not to dominate the region. He believes that the army will eventually gain control over the region. “The battle in Kordofan differs from previous battles that occurred in urban areas. It is an open theatre, and the Rapid Support Forces will find themselves in widely separated lines,” the retired officer told Ayin. “The Rapid Support Forces will encounter challenges in transporting supplies from Darfur to Kordofan because of the long distance involved.” 

The Rapid Support Forces

According to a source within the RSF, they are amassing huge forces around the towns of Babanusa and Al-Muglad and in the northeastern part of West Kordofan State. They have also strengthened their deployment in the desert up to North Darfur State and the border triangle of Uwaynat, the same source said. 

The RSF have near-total control of most of West Kordofan State, which contains Sudan’s main oil fields. In North Kordofan State, the RSF effectively control Bara, Jebra Sheikh, Umm Qurfa, and Umm Sayala in the northeastern part of the state. According to the Sudan Doctors Network, the RSF converted the main hospital in Nuhud, a town they took control of five months ago, into a command centre and barracks, forcing staff to flee. 

In South Kordofan, the RSF control the Al-Qouz locality, including the towns of Al-Dibeibat and Al-Hamadi and the strategic Taiba triangle area. They also control the Habila area and surround some eastern localities.

In joint operations with their ally, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) led by Abdel Aziz al-Hilu, they are besieging Dilling, the second largest city in the state. The SPLM-N said in a statement that the army launched an attack on its positions last Wednesday in the Kartala area of Habila locality, in the Nuba Mountains region.

Abdullah Haqqar, the RSF field commander, asserts that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) will emerge victorious in the Kordofan battles, given that “85% of Kordofan’s communities support the RSF.” Interestingly, the field commander also believes the RSF excels in open-ground warfare rather than enclosed conflicts that have previously taken place in cities—the very same argument was conversely made by former army officer Dr Amin Majzoub.

RSF Field Commander Haqqar says a military victory in the region will cut off critical supplies for the army. “Kordofan is rich in oil, agricultural, and animal products, and all these resources served as a lifeline by supplying Islamic groups and the ideologically driven army with money that they used to purchase weapons and fight against us.” 

Mass displacement

While the military victories remain few, the level of human displacement has spiked, as hundreds of thousands of people have fled the area, according to Ahmed Tom, the Secretary-General of the Youth Citizens Observer Network.  Many have fled to the capital of North Kordofan State, El Obeid, occupying any shelters available. Local volunteers from the Emergency Response Rooms (ERRs), who support the war-affected, told Ayin that some sleep out in the open as the city faces ever-increasing numbers of displaced. One volunteer added that most displaced individuals come from the conflict in Bara and nearby villages in North Kordofan State.

Those displaced from the fighting in South Kordofan state are concentrated in the cities of Dilling, Kadugli, Abbasiya, and Al-Tadamon in the east of the state, another ERR source told Ayin. The volunteer estimates that roughly 200,000 people now depend for their livelihoods on the efforts of emergency room volunteers and limited interventions from some humanitarian organisations working in the region.

In West Kordofan State, the largest gathering of displaced people are in the areas of Al-Mujlad, Umm Jak, Al-Fula and Kadom, most of them fleeing the fighting in Babanusa, whose population of about 177,000 people was displaced en masse after conflict broke out in January 2024, according to a press release issued by the ERRs in West Kordofan State. Thousands of displaced people are also in Abu Zabad and the surrounding areas in West Kordofan State, having arrived there after the escalation of fighting in Dubeibat and Hamadi in South Kordofan State.

No more oil

Oil production has been curtailed after the RSF took control over the oil fields, as oil company workers have fled the insecurity – not to mention the fact that all oil production agreements were previously made with the military-controlled government. No activity will resume unless new arrangements and understandings are reached between the parties to guarantee the safety of engineers and workers, according to a source in the oil sector who spoke to Ayin. The source stated that the RSF has completely shut down all the oil fields they seized in Balila, Sufyan, and Zarq. Last week, a drone strike temporarily shuttered the last operational field in Heglig.

According to economist Dr Haitham Fathi, most oil fields have ceased operations due to the deteriorating security situation, forcing companies to pay armed militias in the region for protection. “The repercussions of the current fighting come at a time when Sudan has, for years, pinned its hopes on increasing oil production to bolster revenues, address the budget deficit, and overcome energy challenges,” he told Ayin. “Now, it may have lost everything.”