Sudan's paramilitary chief says he will no longer hold back his troops

Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, the leader of Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group, declared he would no longer hold back his fighters after the Sudanese army made advances near the strategic city of El-Obeid. This statement comes after the army successfully regained control of the key road connecting El-Obeid to the capital, Khartoum.

For months, the RSF had amassed troops around El-Obeid, anticipating a major offensive. However, the Sudanese army repelled these forces after several days of fighting in North Kordofan state, pushing them westwards and away from the vital 400 km route to Khartoum. Images released by the army showed its chief, Abdel Fattah al-Burhane, visiting Jabrat al-Sheikh, a former RSF stronghold along this route.

In apparent retaliation, drone strikes, attributed to the RSF by local officials, hit El-Obeid. The attacks damaged buildings, including those of the lawyers' association and the Agricultural Bank of Sudan. The United Nations has previously warned of potential atrocities in El-Obeid, drawing parallels to earlier violence in Darfur. Drone strikes by both sides have reportedly killed over a thousand people in the Kordofan region alone this year.

El-Obeid is a crucial crossroads, linking Khartoum to other parts of Kordofan and connecting the RSF's strongholds in Darfur to army-held areas in central and eastern Sudan. The road to Khartoum remains closed to civilians, who have largely relied on an eastern route to White Nile state during the conflict.