Sudan Nashra: Govt sources say Khartoum refuses entry to fact-finding mission as it warns of a Fasher repeat in Kordofan | Prime minister absent from major continental forum, declaration recommends designating RSF terrorist group | Military adopts attrition tactics in Kordofan, RSF pushes to capture Babanusa

Global efforts to expand humanitarian access and investigate violations after Fasher’s fall are running up against Khartoum’s attempts to control the terms of access as supply corridors become the war’s main arena of political contestation.

The UN Human Rights Council asked its independent fact-finding mission for Sudan to urgently investigate violations committed after the RSF assault, but government sources told Mada Masr the team will not be allowed in, insisting such a probe “infringes on Sudan’s sovereignty.”

Even as Khartoum removes senior humanitarian officials and blocks investigative missions, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Tom Fletcher made his way to Darfur, visiting displacement sites in areas held by the Sudan Liberation Movement, led by Abdel Wahid Nur. Sources in both the government and the movement say the trip aimed to coordinate humanitarian pathways and address points of friction with Khartoum.

Though Fletcher met with Transitional Sovereignty Council head Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the foreign minister during his 11-day Sudan visit, Prime Minister Kamel Idris — expected to play a pivotal role in coordinating aid — was absent from the agenda.

Idris’s absence was even more striking at a higher-stakes event. At the ninth summit of the heads of state and government of the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region, Sudan’s delegation was led by TSC member Ibrahim Gaber rather than Idris, who was instead in Zurich on what a source close to him said is a family visit.

Idris is supposed to help push for the government’s narrative of the war within regional and UN forums. But in recent weeks, Khartoum’s approach to regional diplomacy has appeared erratic, and coordination has lacked the urgency required, by intensifying external initiatives. At home, mounting service and security pressures in areas retaken by the military have sharpened public scrutiny of Idris’s performance.

As frustration grows over the government’s political handling of the war and with little tangible progress toward a ceasefire, the military is adopting attrition and “distraction” tactics in Kordofan rather than prioritizing territorial gains, according to a senior officer. Military units and allied forces are launching targeted offensives and airstrikes on RSF supply routes and positions to relieve pressure on besieged units. Even so, the military has managed this week to retake the strategic Habila area, a key agricultural hub in South Kordofan.

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Govt sources say Khartoum refuses entry to human rights investigators, fact-finding mission warns of a Fasher repeat in Kordofan

As global actors press to expand humanitarian access and investigate violations in the aftermath of Fasher’s fall, Khartoum is pushing to dictate the terms of access as supply corridors become the war’s main point of political contestation.

On November 14, the UN Human Rights Council convened a special session on the situation in Fasher and adopted a resolution calling on the Independent International Fact-finding Mission for the Sudan to launch an urgent investigation into violations committed in the RSF’s assault on the city in late October.

But sources in the justice and foreign ministries told Mada Masr that Khartoum will not allow the mission to enter Sudan, insisting the probe “infringes on Sudan’s sovereignty” and that only mechanisms already operating inside the country — such as the OHCHR office and the designated UN expert — are acceptable. 

A Justice Ministry source said the fact-finding mission must first coordinate with Sudanese prosecutors, saying that “a national committee already exists” to carry out investigative duties, while the source in the Foreign Ministry said the government opposes attempts to introduce “controversial mechanisms” into the resolution based on previous decisions that Sudan had not endorsed — referring to the resolution establishing the mission in October 2023.

Three officials in the independent fact-finding mission, however, told Mada Masr that the violations witnessed time and again in Sudan’s war are the result of decades of impunity.

Large parts of Fasher have become a “crime scene,” they said, with survivors describing bodies piled in streets and trenches. The mission has verified digital evidence supporting the scale and severity of the reported crimes and warned that conditions across Kordofan mirror those in Fasher and North Kordofan’s Bara before their fall — civilians besieged, aid blocked and famine taking hold.

States and actors financing or arming militias bear direct responsibility for stopping the atrocities, the officials said.

As Khartoum refuses entry to human rights investigators, Fletcher arrived in Sudan on November 11 for a week-long visit.

His itinerary included meetings with TSC head and Sudanese Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, as well as a joint session with Foreign Minister Mohie Eddin Salem and Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdel Atty. 

A ministerial source told Mada Masr that the visit aimed to coordinate humanitarian pathways, assess real needs on the ground and address several points the government raised regarding the operations of UN agencies, including aid routes and distribution mechanisms.

Frictions between Khartoum and humanitarian agencies were laid bare in late October, when foreign ministry acting undersecretary Hussein al-Amin declared WFP’s country director and the head of operations in Khartoum as personas non grata. A source at the premiership previously told Mada Masr that the decision originated from the TSC, which had grown increasingly frustrated after the WFP allowed aid trucks to enter through the Adre border crossing from Chad. The government objected, arguing that the security situation did not permit convoys to pass at that time, particularly as military operations were underway to target RSF supply routes used for weapons and ammunition.

Fletcher’s delegation reached areas in Darfur controlled by the Sudan Liberation Movement led by Abdel Wahid Nur, east of Jabal Marra.

Head of SLM (Nur) civil authority Mugib al-Rahman al-Zubeir told Mada Masr that the visit focused on the conditions of displaced people, who he said continue to arrive in North Darfur’s Tawila locality. 

Around 700,000 have fled to Tawila since the start of the war in April 2023, he said, adding that the movement is sheltering the displaced across 17 camps, but logistical challenges persist, including shortages of food, clean drinking water, medicine and education services.

SLM (Nur) has repeatedly appealed to UN agencies and to international, regional and national organizations for immediate intervention to address the situation, Zubeir said, describing Fletcher’s visit as “productive” and one of the tangible responses to these repeated calls, with the UN delegation making commitments to deliver urgent assistance to the Tawila locality — one of the main displacement destinations in North Darfur.

Fletcher also met with RSF representatives in North Darfur’s Korma area “to make it clear that we demand full accountability” for the atrocities in Fasher, stressing full civilian protection. They also discussed the UN requirements for safe passages in and out of the city — “into Fasher for our humanitarian, life-saving support and out of Fasher for those civilians, the survivors who are so desperately looking to flee.”

A source in the Sudanese Doctors Network said that both Fasher and North Kordofan’s Bara, along with surrounding areas are facing an acute humanitarian crisis amid the absence of humanitarian aid and collapse of essential services. 

International warnings, the source said, have gone unheeded, and the window to prevent similar atrocities in other regions is rapidly closing.

These concerns were echoed during the HRC’s special session, where UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said the atrocities witnessed in Fasher “were foreseen and preventable — but they were not prevented.”

The human rights office, Turk said, had issued repeated warnings over the past year, “so none of us should be surprised by reports that since the RSF took control of Fasher, there have been mass killings of civilians; ethnically targeted executions; sexual violence including gang rape; abductions for ransom; widespread arbitrary detentions; attacks on health facilities, medical staff and humanitarian workers; and other appalling atrocities. This is a pattern that we have documented time and again in this conflict.”

According to the Sudanese Doctors Network source, food insecurity in Bara and across parts of Kordofan and Darfur is particularly alarming, with malnutrition spreading rapidly among displaced populations due to the lack of medical and food assistance and the absence of doctors. The affected areas are at risk of large-scale famine, the source said. 

The global authority on food insecurity had declared famine in Fasher and South Kordofan’s Kadugli, warning that 20 additional areas across Kordofan and Darfur are at risk. Around 54 percent of Sudan’s population faces acute food insecurity.

Access constraints are compounding the crisis, as many areas lack safe humanitarian corridors for agencies to carry out their work on the ground, according to the source. In some RSF-controlled areas, humanitarian aid is either severely restricted or entirely prohibited. 

“Security threats and the refusal of certain actors to facilitate humanitarian access,” they said, are undermining relief efforts and “directly endangering civilian lives.”

African Union Special Envoy on the Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities Adama Dieng, who arrived in Sudan on Sunday, told Mada Masr that the union is urging the international community to “intensify efforts to silence the guns in Sudan, engage in inclusive and effective diplomatic dialogue and immediately halt the flow of weapons and fighters that directly fuel targeted attacks on specific groups and worsen an already dire national situation.”

Dieng’s four-day visit includes meetings with officials from the ministries of justice, foreign affairs and religious affairs and the public prosecutor’s office. According to Dieng, the meetings will assess the situation in light of the widespread violations committed against civilians across several states.

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Prime minister absent from major continental forum, declaration recommends designating RSF terrorist group

With the notable absence of Prime Minister Kamel Idris, the ninth summit of the heads of state and government of the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) concluded in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, on November 16. 

According to the final declaration, a copy of which Mada Masr reviewed, the member states recommend designating the RSF as a terrorist group and mandate the conference secretariat to engage the African Union’s Peace and Security Council and the UN Security Council to take measures regarding the RSF’s crimes.

According to Sudan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Muawiya Osman Khaled, the summit also included a set of regulations concerning precious minerals in Sudan, particularly gold. Khaled said that member states outlined “red points” to prevent the RSF from profiting from gold revenues as a source of financing.

The ICGLR, a powerful continental bloc, comprises 12 African states — including Kenya and the Central African Republic, through which RSF gold smuggling routes run.

Sudan was represented by a delegation led by Transitional Sovereignty Council member Ibrahim Gaber, who delivered a briefing on Khartoum’s stance regarding the ongoing war, documented violations against civilians and recent developments in Fasher.

Despite the summit’s importance and its direct connection to Sudan’s political and military trajectory, the conspicuous absence of Idris — who had been expected to head the delegation — sparked questions about his standing within the country’s decision-making structure.

A ministerial source close to Idris told Mada Masr that his absence signaled either shrinking influence in critical portfolios — or possibly his dissatisfaction with the limited scope of authority he has been afforded, especially after months of mounting criticism of his government’s performance.

Idris’s office, however, told Mada Masr that the prime minister was in Zurich on official duties and remains fully engaged with critical files through his ministerial team and the TSC, adding that his absence from the ICGLR summit was due to conflicting urgent commitments.

But another source close to Idris told Mada Masr that he was on a family visit.

Idris faces a growing backlog of pressing issues related to the humanitarian situation, service breakdowns and the absence of clear plans to rehabilitate war-damaged areas.

As the war drags on and expands, Idris’s executive team appears to have made little progress on essential public services such as electricity, water and healthcare — issues that have left the Sudanese increasingly frustrated.

A source in the TSC said complaints and doubts have also grown regarding the government’s ability to manage vital resources — chief among them gold — amid fears of smuggling outside official channels or its diversion to armed groups.

While the government has pushed for monopolistic policies over gold, a worker in Sudan’s traditional mining sector previously pointed to the challenges of enforcing such policies amid “weak regulatory systems” and open border areas outside full state control, including the Egypt-Libya-Sudan border triangle — a major region for traditional gold mining that fell to the RSF in June.

A former ministerial official noted that Idris’s trip to Zurich days before the summit did little to dispel these impressions about his performance. Despite his remote oversight of government affairs, the source said, his absence from a regional forum central to shaping attitudes toward the war exposed a clear gap in the government’s priorities, as well as the degree of its engagement in arenas that could meaningfully influence the crisis, according to the source.

By virtue of his international connections, Idris was also expected to leverage his position to persuade regional, international and UN bodies to recognize the Sudanese government’s narrative of the war. But in recent weeks, the government’s approach to de-escalation and regional diplomacy has appeared erratic. There has been little tangible progress toward a ceasefire, and coordination has lacked the urgency required amid intensifying regional and international initiatives.

Some within the TSC have described the executive branch’s performance as “hesitant” and “unable to seize political opportunities” during high-stakes summits, according to the former ministerial source.

Idris’s absence from the ICGLR summit thus seemed more than a minor protocol issue — it carried broader implications for his standing in the executive hierarchy and for the government’s ability to manage critical portfolios requiring hands-on leadership, according to the former ministerial official.

Within Sudan, and with mounting service and security challenges and citizens awaiting improvements to their daily lives, scrutiny of the government’s performance has intensified. Areas retaken by the military continue to suffer severe shortages in both services and stability.

As Idris is expected to return to Port Sudan in the coming days, questions remain on whether his absence in Kinshasa will stand as a signal of the continuing disconnect between his formal authority and the realities of power on the ground.

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War of attrition in Kordofan, military recaptures South Kordofan’s Habila

This week brought a notable shift in the military’s approach across the plains of Kordofan, where several field units mounted coordinated offensives on RSF positions and areas of deployment. Three military sources told Mada Masr that the military also targeted RSF supply and logistics routes with a series of surprise aerial strikes.

The RSF, for its part, attempted to push into the city of Babanusa twice after amassing large numbers of fighters and military equipment. But troops from the 22nd Infantry Division, responsible for the city’s defense, pushed back the assaults and inflicted significant losses, according to a field source who spoke to Mada Masr.

On Sunday, the source said, forces in Babanusa repelled a particularly fierce RSF attack involving heavy and light weapons, drones and modern armored vehicles. The RSF sought to capture the division’s headquarters but ultimately withdrew. It was the second such assault within a week, part of the RSF’s ongoing effort to gain full control over a city regarded as one of West Kordofan’s most important military strongholds.

For more than a year, the RSF has maintained a siege on Babanusa and launched dozens of offensives. Yet the 22nd Division has held its ground, supported by sustained drone and air cover and resupply through airdrops.

Videos circulated by soldiers from inside the city showed seized RSF equipment, including modern armored vehicles, other military vehicles and stockpiles of weapons and ammunition. Some footage showed soldiers setting fire to armored vehicles.

The RSF, meanwhile, said it is tightening its encirclement of Babanusa and the division’s headquarters, vowing to keep up its attacks until the garrison falls.

Further north, the military and the joint force of allied armed movements launched a surprise attack on Tuesday on RSF positions around Jabal Abu Sunun, north of the North Kordofan capital, Obeid. The operation dispersed RSF units and resulted in the destruction or capture of several military vehicles, according to a senior military officer.

The officer said the attack inflicted heavy casualties, killing dozens of RSF fighters, including Habib al-Ragy, the RSF commander for west Bara and Obeid. Several others were wounded, 13 combat vehicles were destroyed and 22 vehicles seized. 

According to the officer, these surprise raids will continue as part of a new attrition strategy the military is rolling out across Kordofan and Darfur.

Following the fall of Fasher, they explained, the military adopted new multi-pronged tactics designed to wear down the RSF’s core fighting units and cut off their supply lines. The strategy hinges on hitting key RSF positions across North and West Kordofan without attempting to hold them — withdrawing after each battle and shifting quickly to the next target.

The officer added that the military’s recent maneuvers also serve a deliberate “combat distraction” purpose, drawing RSF forces into preselected battlegrounds to stretch their capabilities, ease pressure on besieged military units in Babanusa and limit the RSF’s ability to initiate attacks.

Darfur governor and leader of the military-allied Sudan Liberation Movement, Minni Arko Minnawi, said their forces secured a major gain in Jabal Abu Sunun and other parts of North Kordofan.

Jabal Abu Sunun occupies a strategic position that serves as a gateway to the areas of Abu Qaoud and Um Samima, and as a forward security line for Obeid. Control over it also facilitates efforts to recapture the city of Bara.

Across the wider Kordofan front, the military-allied Sudan Shield Forces stated that they had launched a “successful” attack on the RSF in Um Sayala on Monday, reporting that their commander Abu Agla Keikel — who personally led the operation — was injured. The force said in a statement that the battle ended with the RSF pushed back.

A military source told Mada Masr, however, that RSF counterattacks overturned the initial gains. The source said the Sudan Shield Forces, supported by a special operations unit, had first advanced from Um Dam Haj Ahmed to link with troops east of Um Sayala. The converged unit then engaged in fierce fighting, expelled RSF units and took control of the area.

But the RSF later redeployed forces from Bara and Gabra al-Sheikh to launch several counterattacks on Um Sayala. These assaults — carried out with more than 250 combat vehicles, Canadian-made armored vehicles and double-barrelled vehicles, backed by drones and artillery — eventually forced the Sudan Shield Forces to pull back into the town and then to its previous defensive lines east of Um Sayala. The battle lasted two hours and left multiple casualties, including a minor injury to Keikel.

In South Kordofan, a military source told Mada Masr that the military recaptured Habila, east of Dalang, as part of a renewed push to reclaim areas held by the RSF and its ally the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North led by Abdel Aziz al-Hilu.

Pro-military social media accounts posted videos showing troops entering the area amid celebrations by residents.

The RSF had taken control of Habila in February after heavy fighting — with SPLM-N forces participating — that resulted in the defeat of the military’s 53rd Brigade. 

Habila is one of South Kordofan’s largest agricultural zones, supplying food to neighboring states and other parts of Sudan.

According to the military source, the recapture came just hours after another advance by the 14th Infantry Division in Kadugli, which seized the Borno area on Monday following a major ground assault preceded by artillery fire that inflicted heavy losses on RSF forces and forced their withdrawal.