Sudan’s ongoing civil conflict witnessed a significant escalation as Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary units, in coordination with allied fighters from Abdelaziz Adam al-Hilu’s Sudan People’s Liberation Army-North (SPLA-N), initiated a large-scale offensive against Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) positions in the strategic Blue Nile state on Sunday. The border region, which shares boundaries with both Ethiopia and South Sudan, became the epicenter of intense combat operations.
According to intelligence sources within Sudan who characterized the assault as ‘exceptionally heavy,’ military reinforcements had been strategically deployed to the area weeks in anticipation of such an attack. Fierce engagements were reported in proximity to Ad-Damazin, the provincial capital, with RSF units reportedly advancing from the Ulu area in the Baw district. Video evidence analyzed by conflict monitors indicated RSF progression toward a remote SAF garrison at al-Silk, approximately 16 kilometers from their starting point.
While pro-RSF media channels circulated footage purportedly showing paramilitary fighters within captured military installations, SAF command sources maintained that their forces successfully repelled the assault and retained control of the garrison. The origin of the offensive has become a subject of intense international speculation, with SAF-aligned sources alleging cross-border involvement from South Sudan and Ethiopia. Specifically, Sudanese intelligence suggests the RSF utilized a suspected base in Ethiopia’s Benishangul Gumuz region to stage the operation—a claim that, if verified, would directly implicate both neighboring nations and their regional ally, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in the conflict.
The UAE continues to deny allegations of providing material support to the RSF, despite mounting evidence from flight tracking data, satellite imagery, and extensive field reporting. Military analysts aligned with the SAF interpret the Blue Nile offensive as a strategic diversion intended to redirect SAF resources away from the Kordofan region, where fierce fighting has recently culminated in the SAF’s capture of the Habila locality in South Kordofan. The conflict has increasingly employed drone warfare, with both sides utilizing unmanned aircraft that have resulted in civilian casualties, including women and children. The RSF claims to have recently shot down a Turkish-manufactured Bayraktar drone in the al-Farshaya area.
Since its inception in April 2023, the Sudanese civil war has resulted in a devastating humanitarian catastrophe, claiming tens of thousands of lives and displacing over 14 million people from their homes, creating one of the world’s most severe displacement crises.