KHARTOUM, Sudan
The Sudanese army and allied armed groups regained control of a strategic area in North Kordofan State in southern Sudan on Sunday from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group.
“We congratulate our people on the return of the Umm Sumayyah area in North Kordofan to the nation’s embrace,” Darfur Governor Minni Minnawi said in a Facebook post, without providing further details.
A statement by the joint armed groups supporting the Sudanese army said that they had achieved “a complete victory and cleansing” of Umm Sumayyah, west of the provincial capital El-Obeid, from RSF fighters after intense clashes.
The RSF had claimed earlier Sunday that it had captured the area following battles with the Sudanese military.
Meanwhile, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Sunday that 675 families were displaced from the villages of Al-Kurdi and Shaq Al-Noum in North Kordofan due to insecurity on Friday and Saturday.
Heavy fighting has gripped the Kordofan region – comprising North, West, and South Kordofan states – for several days as Sudan’s army and the RSF vie for control.
The army and RSF have been fighting a war since April 2023 that has killed more than 20,000 victims and displaced 14 million, according to the UN and local authorities. Research from US universities, however, estimates the death toll at around 130,000.
