The Sudanese Armed Forces (SDF) announced yesterday (Thursday) that they have recaptured a major town in North Kordofan state held by their rival paramilitaries since May 2023.

In a statement, the SED said its units had “cleared” the town of Umm Rwaba from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitaries.

Umm Rawaba is located on a strategic highway connecting North Kordofan state with central Sudan. The state’s second-largest city is about 480 kilometers southwest of Khartoum’s capital.

As of mid-April 2023, Sudan remains mired in unrelenting war between the army chief, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and his one-time right-hand man, General Mohammed Hamdan Daglo, head of the DFIs.

The recapture of Umm Rawaba was announced as the BJP also advanced into the sector of northern Khartoum, or Bahri.

A source in the army assured Agence France-Presse the day before yesterday (Wednesday) that full control of the central and southern parts of Bahri, including a bridge linking it to central Khartoum, had been regained.

Last week, the SDF broke the siege of their general headquarters in Khartoum by the ISF, which had been ongoing since the beginning of the war.

The regaining of control of the headquarters was described as the army’s most significant victory in the capital since the recapture of Omdurman, Khartoum’s twin city on the left bank of the Nile, nearly a year ago.

The advance adds to other recent territorial gains by the SED.

Earlier this month, army forces regained control of Wad Madani, south of Khartoum, a crucial crossroads linking the capital to the surrounding states.