The Rapid Support Forces has released footage showing large military units advancing toward El Obeid in North Kordofan, signalling preparations for a possible offensive on the strategic city as international concern mounts over the safety of hundreds of thousands of civilians.
In two recent videos published through its official Telegram channel, the RSF said the first contingent from its Kordofan sectors was approaching El Obeid alongside what it described as hundreds of other military units.
A second video showed forces commanded by General Habib Herika preparing for what the paramilitary group called the “liberation of El Obeid.”
The claims and the location of the forces shown in the footage could not be independently verified.
The mobilisation comes as G7 foreign ministers and the European Union’s foreign policy chief called on the RSF and its allied armed groups to halt actions that could endanger civilians or lead to further atrocities in El Obeid.
In a statement issued Wednesday, they also urged all sides, including the Sudanese Armed Forces, to cease hostilities, permit humanitarian access and engage seriously in efforts to end the conflict.
The European Union warned on July 10 that a major RSF military buildup was threatening El Obeid, which is sheltering around 500,000 civilians, including approximately 100,000 displaced people.
“El Obeid cannot become another El Fasher,” the EU said, warning that attacks on civilians, obstruction of safe passage and restrictions on humanitarian aid could trigger further measures against those responsible.
El Obeid is the capital of North Kordofan and sits along strategic routes connecting central Sudan with Darfur and western parts of the country. Control of the city would give the RSF a major military and logistical advantage in the Kordofan region.
Separately, the RSF has published footage renewing its claim that it controls the strategic town of Umbaro in North Darfur.
The latest footage was presented by the group as evidence that its forces had taken the area, but the claim does not appear to represent a completely new development.
Darfur24 reported on June 27 that fighting had erupted between the RSF and the army-aligned Joint Force in Umbaro and nearby Abu Qumra. The outlet said the RSF had released footage during the previous week claiming it had captured Umbaro following heavy clashes.
Joint Force fighters later released their own footage claiming to have entered the town, highlighting the contested and rapidly changing nature of control in the border region.
Darfur24 said Umbaro, Karnoi and Al-Tina were among the remaining army and Joint Force positions in northwestern Darfur, near Sudan’s border with Chad.
The latest RSF publication should therefore be treated as a renewed assertion of control rather than independently verified evidence of a fresh capture.
The simultaneous messaging from North Darfur and Kordofan appears intended to present the RSF and its TASIS allies as advancing on several fronts while the paramilitary group considers a US proposal for a 90-day humanitarian truce.
The RSF has said it accepts the proposed truce, but it has rejected demands that it withdraw from all cities and territories under its control. No final ceasefire agreement or implementation date has been announced.
