Sudan Nashra: New battlefront along the North Kordofan-White Nile national road | Democratic Bloc holds conference in Cairo, Civil Front for Democracy calls it ‘political patchwork’

The national road connecting the capitals of the North Kordofan and White Nile states has emerged as the latest extensive battleground in Sudan’s war. Intense clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces have broken out in multiple locations along its stretch. 

The new battlefront took shape after the Sudanese military advanced from Tendelti in the east and Obeid in the west, aiming to converge its forces and eliminate the RSF in Um Rawaba and Rahad. The military operation also aims to open up supply routes to Babanusa in West Kordofan, ultimately dismantling RSF strongholds west of Obeid.

Control over the national road would be a gateway into cities throughout the country. Spanning around 500 kilometers, the road connects dozens of cities, starting from south of Khartoum, passing through Geteina, Dueim, Rabak, Kosti, Tendelti in White Nile State, Um Rawaba, Rahad, and ending in Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan State.

With time running short as the autumn rain season approaches, military sources told Mada Masr that the race is on to conclude the military operation to control the road. 

The military’s eastward advance from Obeid and its capture of the strategic Jabal Kordofan en route to Rahad came at a price for the RSF who lost their commander in the state. To the west, the RSF lost control over the Central Reserve Forces headquarters to the military.

On the political front, diplomatic maneuvers persist in regional capitals rather than Sudan’s new administrative capital, Port Sudan. While Sudanese Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan was on his way to Turkey to bury his son Mohamed who died from injuries sustained in a car accident in March, Armed Forces Deputy Commander Shams Eddin al-Kabbashi, headed to Juba, the capital of South Sudan, on Sunday.

In Juba, Kabbashi held meetings with high-ranking South Sudanese officials, most notably President Salva Kiir, as well as discussions with the Abdelaziz al-Hilu, the country’s third most powerful military figure and leader of a faction of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North rebel group. 

Humanitarian aid took center stage in the meetings, especially after news that Juba was reluctant to facilitate the movement of aid from the UAE, a backer of the RSF, into Sudan. The military has consistently insisted that the delivery of aid go through state-designated pathways, both as a way to insist on the need to reassert state control over breakaway regions and to prevent the widespread looting that aid convoys and supplies have been subject to at the hands of the RSF. 

The Emiratis proposed to Juba, which has recently received a huge influx of needed cash from the UAE, to take the lead on Sudanese-Sudanese talks on the war, sources in South Sudan told Mada Masr. As a result, Kiir extended an invitation to the Democratic Bloc – which includes a wide range of armed movements and civil political parties under the leadership of the Democratic Unionist Party led by Mohamed Osman al-Mirghani. The bloc then held a number of meetings that did not reject dialogue with the Civil Front for Democracy, the alliance led by former Prime Minister Abdulla Hamdok which has come under criticism from the state for its proximity to the RSF. While Hamdok declined to attend a meeting with the bloc, a delegation from the front, led by Sudanese Congress Party head Omar al-Digair and leaders in the National Umma Party and the Democratic Unionist Party, convened in Juba for discussions with Kiir and leaders in the Democratic Bloc.

South Sudan’s national security advisor Tut Gatluak presented to the gathered political figures the principles of the proposed Sudanese-Sudanese dialogue, and the Democratic Bloc put forth its vision. However, the civil front rejected South Sudan’s offer to mediate, citing the ongoing internal strife that has plagued the party in recent months. The front’s refusal brought an end to South Sudan’s bid to steer intra-Sudanese talks to bring an end to the crisis.

Nevertheless, efforts to forge alliances between all parties persisted. Hamdok proposed that Hilu join the Civil Front for Democracy. While Hilu welcomed the offer, he set political conditions that ultimately prevented his entry into the front.

Hamdok's attempts to establish connections with armed groups continued as he extended an invitation to Abdel Wahid al-Nur, the leader of a faction of the Sudan Liberation Movement, to join the front as well. However, Nur saw that joining the front would limit his ability to politically maneuver. 

Subsequently, Nur met with Kenyan President William Ruto, adopting a de facto alignment with the RSF even as he continued to deny having any ties with the RSF. 

Nur’s position at the international level is undermined by the fact that, on the ground, his forces have engaged in clashes with the RSF on at least three separate occasions, the last of which the RSF apologized for, attributing it to a lack of coordination.  

On the humanitarian front, Sudan designated border crossings for humanitarian aid, including passages with South Sudan that supply the White Nile, South Kordofan, and West Kordofan. One of these routes is via the river crossing connecting Kosti to Renk in South Sudan. Due to the RSF’s sieges on Kadugli and Dalang, key cities in South Kordofan, aid delivery to South and West Kordofan is primarily routed through areas controlled by the SPLM-N (al-Hilu).

Meanwhile, in Sudan’s westernmost region, hunger and thirst continue to afflict Fasher, the capital of North Darfur. Limited food supplies are reaching the city via the Daba road and the Libyan border. Intermittent clashes persist between warring factions, with the RSF’s infiltration attempts into the city being repelled by the military and allied armed groups. 

Despite international appeals for a halt to hostilities and the safeguarding of citizens within the city, the RSF continues to mobilize their forces around Fasher.

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Kabbashi in Juba, extensive military operations in Kordofan

In Juba, Kabbashi met with SPLM-N head Abdelaziz al-Hilu on May 4. The meeting was facilitated by South Sudanese mediators to address the conflict in Sudan. 

The meeting revolved around resolving the conflict in Sudan, as well as issues related to humanitarian aid delivery to areas under the control of the SPLM-N in the South Kordofan and Blue Nile states and state-controlled regions.

An informed source within the Sudanese government told Mada Masr that Kabbashi's visit aimed to establish a clear strategy for aid passage and to prevent any party from exploiting humanitarian routes to support the RSF in different parts of Sudan.

The source stressed that the meeting between Kabbashi and Hilu comes as part of the military’s operations in South Kordofan, as the RSF have launched attacks based on ethnic grounds, intensifying the pressure on civilians in the Nuba Mountains, a stronghold of the SPLM-N (al-Hilu). The military’s coordination with the SPLM-N is intended to safeguard the situation in South Kordofan, the source said.

The fighting that has engulfed South Kordofan in recent months has isolated the state and SPLM-N from the rest of the country, leading to severe humanitarian repercussions. South Kordofan witnessed successive clashes in early January near Dalang, its second-largest city, as the RSF’s 54th Brigade attacked Dalang, which sits in the vicinity of Habila, a crucial agricultural zone.

The clashes, spanning two months, led to the disruption of the agricultural season, resulting in the displacement of approximately 60,000 people to various parts of the state. 

According to a local source in Dalang who spoke to Mada Masr, the collapse of the 2023 agricultural season and preventing farmers from accessing their lands has triggered a food shortage across all localities of South Kordofan, adding strain on the local population and leading to overcrowding in Dalang.

In Dalang alone, there are around 20,000 internally displaced persons who fled the atrocities committed by the RSF, who burned down some villages in early January. 

In the South Kordofan village of Takma, a resident told Mada Masr that the RSF set the town on fire and abducted around seven women to the city of Debeibat. The woman’s whereabouts are still unknown. Moreover, the RSF’s ongoing siege on Dalang and Kadugli has resulted in shortages of essential goods and a scarcity of water, a government source in one of the cities told Mada Masr. The humanitarian crisis in South Kordofan was preceded by joint military efforts involving the Sudanese military and the SPLM-N (al-Hilu) in the eastern regions of the state to safeguard the state's major cities.

General Kafi Tayara, who manages forces independently from the Sudanese military’s command, announced an initiative with tribal leaders in the Kordofan region, which included the three Kordofan states under which tribal leaders agreed to sever supply lines to the RSF and prohibit the use of their territories to stage attacks against the Sudanese Armed Forces.

An SPLM-N retired general previously told Mada Masr that the military landscape in South Kordofan necessitates close coordination among field commanders. Therefore, the participation of SPLM-N units in operations alongside the military is not surprising, especially as Habila is a strategic area. 

Habila serves as a vital agricultural region and a source of food security for a large population. Additionally, it acts as a pivotal juncture connecting the western and eastern parts of the state. The source added that the Sudanese Armed Forces and the SPLM-N face similar military risks, even if the two sides continue to have significant, long-standing differences.

Concurrently, SPLM-N and the Sudanese Armed Forces began to forge agreements by presenting a shared vision for managing the crisis. 

During his first visit to Juba, Burhan proposed certain measures to stave off threats or attacks in some areas of the South Kordofan and Blue Nile. However, according to informed government sources who spoke to Mada Masr, Hilu did not provide a definitive response. Subsequently, his forces attacked several areas in the Blue Nile State, where the military managed to repel the assault, as well as defend Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan.

Hamdok, on his part, extended an invitation to Hilu to join the front toward the end of last year. However, sources within SPLM-N told Mada Masr that the movement’s negotiation strategy indicates that it bases its alliances on the core concerns outlined in its documents and delineated in its positions. Nevertheless, Hilu did not hold back from meeting with Hamdok at that time. While the SPLM-N stated that “it welcomes discussions with any party or entity that seeks to end the longstanding suffering of the Sudanese people,” Hilu proposed that discussions should include themes of identity, unity, and secularism, longstanding areas of concern for the rebel group. 

However, the evolving situation on the ground widened the divide between Hilu and the front after the RSF launched a series of attacks on SPLM-N-controlled areas. 

A source in one of these areas told Mada Masr that over 71 civilians were killed and dozens were wounded in the RSF’s attack on the Jebel Dair area in South Kordofan. The source added that this area has been targeted by the RSF in a series of attacks that started on December 18 and lasted until April 21, 2024. The targeting was based on ethnicity, and the RSF committed widespread killings, desecration of bodies, torture, looting, and forced displacement.

As the attacks intensified, SPLM-N mobilized its forces in these areas, and vowed to repel any RSF assaults, sources in South Kordofan told Mada Masr.

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Escalation in North Kordofan front 

While active combat zones are predominantly concentrated in the states of Gezira, Khartoum, and North Darfur, a wide-ranging battlefield unexpectedly erupted between the military and the RSF in North Kordofan. This development transpired as the Fifth Infantry Division camel cavalry intensified its attacks on the RSF, reclaiming several previously RSF-held areas. Moreover, airstrikes targeted various locations in the eastern part of the state.

The Fifth Division secured the strategic Jabal Kordofan area east of Obeid City, which had been under the RSF’s control since the war’s outbreak in April  2023. 

Jabal Kordofan holds strategic importance, as control over the area not only safeguards Obeid but also secures a wide stretch of the White Nile-Khartoum national road up to the White Nile State. 

Military sources told Mada Masr that the military aims to establish a secure perimeter around Obeid airport to launch airstrikes in the Kordofan region and to ensure uninterrupted military supplies flow and link Obeid to Kosti city in the White Nile State. This would guarantee supply lines for the military as they prepare for the rainy season in autumn. If the military does not secure the road, the western states would be cut off from the central and eastern states.

According to a military source within the Fifth Division, the military killed the RSF commander in Kordofan, known as Shirya, during these confrontations. Furthermore, they seized a number of combat vehicles at the Central Reserve Forces headquarters in North Kordofan in clashes that saw  casualties and injuries among military ranks.

Military units coming from the White Nile State have expanded their operations along the national road. They began reclaiming control over a section of the national road connecting the cities of Um Rawaba and Tendelti.

In the past month, Kabbashi made three visits to the White Nile. Military sources previously told Mada Masr that Kabbashi's visits aimed at assessing the forces' readiness and finalizing coordination with military leaders on the strategy for taking control of all Kordofan states.

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Humanitarian crisis persists in Fasher 

The humanitarian crisis continues to afflict Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, amid the ongoing siege imposed by the RSF and their allied militias on one side, and the military buildup by the Armed Forces supported by armed factions on the other. This situation has instilled fear and panic among citizens and led to a decline in service provision and the availability of goods.

For several weeks now, the RSF has threatened to storm Fasher after seizing the neighboring town of Malit, 65 kilometers north of Fasher, amassing forces and vehicles while completely sealing off roads and impeding the delivery of humanitarian aid and commercial shipments.

Concerns are mounting that violent confrontations may erupt in the city, which houses hundreds of thousands of displaced individuals who fled combat zones in other parts of Darfur. 

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has warned that the lives of 750,000 children in Fasher are at risk, as well as millions more in surrounding areas, should a military assault be launched on the city. 

UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell stated in a press release on May 3 that an imminent attack on Fasher poses a catastrophic threat, urging the parties to the conflict to urgently step back from such a perilous confrontation.

According to local residents who spoke to Mada Masr, markets in Fasher are unstable due to mounting tensions and the disruption of the main supply route that previously passed through Malit now being under RSF control. Some commercial trucks have resorted to alternative routes, including the roads of Shangil Tobay, Dar al-Salam, and Daein, according to the sources.

Limited previous skirmishes in the northern and eastern neighborhoods of the city saw the military repel attacks and conduct multiple military supply and equipment airdrops. Moreover, the military has conducted airstrikes on RSF positions in Fasher’s outskirts.

As tension builds inside the city, the military buildup around Fasher continues.

A military source told Mada Masr that dozens of combat vehicles carrying RSF-affiliated soldiers have amassed in the Hafira area north of Kabkabiya town, around 145 kilometers northwest of Fasher. The source noted that some of these forces comprise mercenaries from neighboring countries, mobilized with the aim of attacking Fasher.

The source said that the military conducted airstrikes on Tuesday targeting RSF positions in Kabkabiya, RSF camps and bases in Kutum town, about 120 kilometers northwest of Fasher, and other towns south of Malit.

On the other hand, the spokesperson for the joint force Ahmed Hussein told Mada Masr that Fasher remains calm and stable. He accused the RSF of spreading false claims on social media about an alleged impending attack on the city, calling it psychological warfare aimed at instilling what he called defeatist sentiments among the population.

Hussein stressed that the RSF is incapable of seizing Fasher, stating that “the Sudanese Armed Forces, the joint force of the armed movements, and the popular defense forces are capable of protecting Fasher and the entire Darfur region. Soon, the RSF will be expelled from Darfur cities.”

He said that the “siege” of Fasher amounts to bandit attacks, the looting of commercial, fuel, and humanitarian aid trucks, which has forced them to be redirected. But, Hussein continued, it is not a conventional military siege with control over the city's entrances and exits.

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The Democratic Bloc in Cairo

In a bid to establish a constitutional and political approach to state structures during the post-war transitional period, the Democratic Bloc convened for three days in Cairo.

The Freedom and Change Coalition (Democratic Bloc) spokesperson Mohamed Zakaria told Mada Masr that the bloc’s conference held from May 5 to 7 in Cairo comes amid exceptional circumstances in Sudan, which include  the ongoing extensive RSF violations of Sudanese citizens' rights, the looting of their properties, displacement and the occupation of their homes and state institutions.

Zakaria said that the conference addressed several key issues, including a political vision for an end to the conflict, the prospects of Sudanese-to-Sudanese dialogue, the signing of The Understanding Framework Vision for Managing the Transitional Founding Period charter, the national unity document, foreign relations and economic reconstruction.

The participants stressed the imperative of upholding Sudan's sovereignty and unity and rejecting interference in internal affairs, according to Zakaria. They condemned all RSF violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, as well as their crimes against humanity, war crimes, killings, looting, sexual assault, and the occupation of citizens' homes and state institutions.

Participants denounced the RSF’s siege on Fasher, aimed at cutting off food and medical supplies to the citizens until they starve to death, Zakaria said. The conference reaffirmed its support for the Sudanese Armed Forces and the joint force.

The conference highlighted the urgency of ending the war and addressing its repercussions, achieving peace, and implementing the Jeddah Declaration, particularly the RSF’s withdrawal from citizens' homes to facilitate the provision of humanitarian aid, according to Zakaria.

Moreover, participants emphasized the importance of working toward a democratic transition and establishing a governance system that allows all Sudanese citizens to fulfill their aspirations within a unified state, Zakaria said. They also stressed the importance of reforming, developing, and modernizing the armed forces and security apparatus, integrating all other forces to build a single professional national army based on a unified military creed that reflects diversity.

Zakaria added that the conference also underlined the significance of political forces uniting in a comprehensive state and societal reform process through an all-Sudanese dialogue involving all parties except those proven corrupt or guilty of crimes against the nation.

In contrast, the spokesperson for the Civil Front for Democracy Bakry al-Jack said that every political force has the right to present its perspectives on ways to halt the war and address the country's issues.

Jack said that he has not yet had access to the full proposal, but, if the leaked information is accurate, it signifies a mere race for power and a failure to accurately define the country's problems, reducing them to a constitutional vacuum that supposedly can be resolved by establishing transitional power structures based on the 2019 constitutional document.

He said that the conference is just political patchwork, adding that the country's crisis has escalated beyond the point of needing an alternative political system to rescue it from a complete state of collapse.

Jack said that the matter of Sudanese-to-Sudanese dialogue is not novel, noting that the ousted President Omar al-Bashir's regime had been managing such a dialogue, known then as the comprehensive national strategy, since the early days of his coup and until his downfall.

Jack concluded that the critical focus should be on how this vision is capable of halting the war while it talks about the establishment of a government as the conflict rages on. What is essential, he said, is a genuine Sudanese dialogue on matters of reconstruction and transition, rather than a mere gathering to formalize existing structures.