KHARTOUM — The Sudanese Armed Forces announced Friday they have captured al-Mazroub in North Kordofan state following fierce battles with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The military said the clashes killed RSF fighters and destroyed heavy combat vehicles.
Mohammed Deidan, spokesman for the Army Special Forces, told Anadolu news agency that al-Mazroub connects North Kordofan and West Kordofan states. Controlling the city advances the army's objective of cutting RSF supply lines and represents the largest RSF stronghold lost in North Kordofan during the conflict.
Fighting in Sudan's Kordofan region has intensified since late 2025, making it a critical area in the war, now in its fourth year. The conflict began in April 2023. The Kordofan region encompasses North, West, and South Kordofan states and sits at the intersection of the two factions' control zones, bridging the army-held central region and the RSF-controlled Darfur to the west.
Since the war began, one in five recorded attacks across Sudan has occurred in the Kordofan region. The SAF maintains an advantage in the north, while the RSF controls areas in the west. South Kordofan remains contested.
Last month, the Sudan Doctors Network accused the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) of an artillery attack in Dilling, a town in South Kordofan. The SPLM-N, a breakaway faction of the SPLM that governs neighboring South Sudan, has aligned with the RSF. Its leader, Abdel Aziz al-Hilu, joined the RSF-led parallel government in Sudan.
