Sudanese army announces recapture of Bara, other areas in North Kordofan

Sudan's military said on Saturday that it had recaptured the city of Bara and several other areas in North Kordofan State from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), in what it described as a significant advance in the fiercely contested region.

In a statement, the Joint Force comprising the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), Darfur armed movements and allied fighters said its operations had resulted in the recapture of Bara, Um Sayala, Um Garfa, Jabrat al-Sheikh and Al-Baraka. It said heavy losses had been inflicted on the RSF.

Earlier in the day, the Ministry of Defence said the army and Joint Forces were advancing on the Bara axis as part of coordinated operations being carried out simultaneously across several fronts. It said the push, alongside operations on the Um Sayala front and other axes, marked a significant battlefield development in North Kordofan that would strengthen the deployment of the army and allied forces and help protect civilians and civilian infrastructure.

Bara holds considerable strategic weight. Lying about 55 kilometres north of the North Kordofan state capital, El Obeid, it sits on a highway linking the Khartoum area with the Kordofan states and the wider Darfur region, and had served as a launching point for RSF attacks on El Obeid.

The city has changed hands repeatedly during the war. The RSF seized it in the early months of the conflict; the army first recaptured it in March, before the RSF retook it days later. During periods of RSF control, international organisations and rights groups reported widespread abuses that they said could amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.

There was no immediate comment from the RSF on Saturday's announcement, and the claims could not be independently verified. Kordofan has become one of the most intense battlegrounds in the war that erupted between the army and the RSF in April 2023, which has killed tens of thousands of people and driven millions from their homes in what the United Nations has called one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.