Sudanese students leave a school operated by the Sudanese Coalition for Education for All near Port Sudan on 26 April 2026. [Getty]
The Sudanese army said Saturday it had recaptured an area close to the Ethiopian border following clashes with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and its allies.
Troops moved in to the Al Kayli area near the city of Al-Kurmuk in Sudan’s southeastern Blue Nile region after inflicting heavy losses on the RSF and the allied Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-North), it said.
Meanwhile, an alliance led by the RSF reported that more than a dozen people were killed in an army drone strike in South Kordofan.
The fighting in the south comes amid diplomatic crisis between Sudan and Ethiopia, triggered by a series of attacks launched by the RSF and an allied faction of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North in several areas of the state.
Khartoum this week recalled its ambassador to Ethiopia, accusing the country of being behind drone attacks in several areas of the country, including on Khartoum airport. It also accused the United Arab Emirates of supplying the aircraft.
“The Fourth Infantry Division and supporting forces succeeded in liberating the Al-Kayli area located on the outskirts of Al-Kurmuk city on the southern front after heroic battles against the terrorist RSF militia and Joseph Tuka’s forces affiliated with SPLM-North,” the army said in a statement.
The nearby city of Al-Kurmuk was seized by the rebel militia on 24 March.
Meanwhile, the Sudan Founding Alliance, an RSF-led coalition of anti-government factions, accused the army of systematically targeting civilians after a drone strike hit a truck in South Kordofan, killing 15 people and injuring several others.
The truck was carrying 37 civilians along the main road to Abu Zabad in West Kordofan, it said.
Around 700 civilians have been killed in drone strikes by both sides in Sudan since January, according to the UN.
The SPLM-North said on Friday that its forces in the Blue Nile region had seized control of the strategically important Khawr al-Hassan area.
Stephen Amad, deputy chief of staff of the movement’s People’s Army, reported that its forces were advancing on the regional capital, Damazin, and other areas in the state.
Meanwhile, the Popular Resistance Forces supporting the Sudanese army in North Darfur state said that RSF movements in recent days suggested it is preparing for an attack on the border area of Al-Tina between Sudan and Chad.
The war has killed tens of thousands of people, uprooted more than 11 million from their homes and triggered what the UN describes as the world’s largest displacement and hunger crises.
Famine was declared last year in El-Fasher in North Darfur and Kadugli in South Kordofan, with 20 more areas at risk, according to a UN-backed assessment.
The Arab League will on Sunday hold an emergency meeting to discuss the ongoing fighting.
