RSF capture Um Dehilib in South Kordofan as fighting escalates in Sudan
Local media reports indicate that the RSF joined forces with the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North, a militia group led by Abdelaziz al-Hilu, to capture the town.
Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have reportedly taken control of Um Dehilib, a key town in South Kordofan, wresting it from the Sudanese Armed Forces amid intensifying clashes in the region.
Local media reports indicate that the RSF joined forces with the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), a militia group led by Abdelaziz al-Hilu, to capture the town.
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The two groups have reportedly been working together since February 2025 to oppose the Sudanese Army.
Since late May, the Sudanese army and its allied forces have been losing control of territory in South and West Kordofan to RSF and its allies.
The RSF confirmed the development in a video posted on social media, showing its soldiers "liberating" the town.
Heavy fighting
The footage, seen by The Eastleigh Voice, captured fighters celebrating in the streets.
Some houses can also be seen burning, and several bodies are captured lying in the streets, pointing to the heavy fighting that took place during the takeover.
The Sudanese Army has yet to issue an official statement on the development, which comes amid reports from a local rights group of escalating attacks by the RSF on civilians in the neighbouring state of West Kordofan.
Sudan has spiralled into one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, with fighting between the army and the paramilitary RSF killing at least 24,000 people and displacing around 13 million, including four million refugees, since October 2021.
Despite the army's retaking of Khartoum in March and the appointment of Kamil al-Taib Idris as Prime Minister in April, the RSF remains active in Darfur and Kordofan, and fighting continues.
Last week, Sudan's former Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok labelled the military's recent push to form a new government and reclaim territory, including the capital Khartoum, as meaningless in ending the country's two-year civil war.
According to Abdalla, no military victory can bring lasting peace to the nation currently embroiled in a brutal civil war, calling the continued fighting a result of deep-rooted inequalities and unresolved political tensions.
He added that peace can only be achieved through a ceasefire and an inclusive democratic dialogue that addresses Sudan's current issues.
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