Sudan’s army says it captured RSF stronghold in North Kordofan

What Happened

The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) said on Friday that they captured al-Mazroub in North Kordofan state after fierce battles with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The military claimed the fighting inflicted casualties among RSF personnel and destroyed or disabled heavy combat vehicles, but these figures have not been independently verified. A Sudanese army source told Al Jazeera that al-Mazroub was the RSF’s largest stronghold in North Kordofan, and SAF Special Forces spokesman Mohammed Deidan told Anadolu that the city links North Kordofan and West Kordofan, positioning the army to cut RSF supply lines.

Key Actors

Why It Matters

Al-Mazroub’s location at the junction of North and West Kordofan makes it strategically valuable: its capture, if confirmed, would advance the army’s effort to sever RSF supply lines between the army-held central region and RSF-controlled Darfur. Kordofan has become a main battleground in the war’s fourth year, with one in five recorded attacks in Sudan since April 2023 occurring there, and control of the region is split between the SAF in the north, the RSF in the west, and contested South Kordofan.

Watch For

Monitor whether the RSF confirms the loss or mounts a counterattack to reopen the North Kordofan–West Kordofan route, and whether independent sources verify SAF control of al-Mazroub given access constraints. Also watch for further SAF advances toward West Kordofan aimed at fully cutting RSF access to Darfur, and for any new incidents involving SPLM-N forces in Dilling or elsewhere in South Kordofan.