The Sudanese army announced on Sunday that it had successfully broken the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) siege on El-Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan, which had been encircled since the conflict erupted in April 2023.
According to army spokesman Nabil Abdallah, government troops managed to reopen supply routes into the city and link up with other military units positioned east of El-Obeid.
El-Obeid holds immense military and logistical significance, serving as a key transport hub linking the capital Khartoum with western Darfur and southern Sudan. The RSF, which has seized much of Darfur, had been using the siege to cut off supply lines to government forces.
A military source, speaking anonymously, told AFP that the city’s airport and central location made its liberation a pivotal moment in the ongoing conflict.
Sudan’s finance minister, Gibril Ibrahim, described the development as a turning point, adding that it could pave the way for lifting the RSF-imposed blockade on El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur.
Reopening access to North Kordofan is expected to facilitate the delivery of food and medical supplies to the region.
Sudan’s civil war has plunged the country into a severe humanitarian crisis, with over 12 million people displaced and famine already declared in parts of Darfur and the Nuba Mountains.
A UN-backed assessment warned that famine could spread to five more areas by May, further exacerbating the crisis.
Despite the army’s claim of success in El-Obeid, the wider war between Sudan’s military leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the RSF continues to rage on, with no immediate end in sight.
