Fighting is intensifying across western North Kordofan amid reports of fresh Rapid Support Forces reinforcements, while civilians, traders and gold miners face growing disruption as the battle spreads towards Umm Badr and Al-Mazroub.
Sudanese media outlets aligned with the army reported on Monday that RSF deputy commander Abdel Rahim Hamdan Dagalo had arrived in the Kordofan region accompanied by additional forces and what they described as an advanced electronic-jamming system.
The reports, citing intelligence sources, said the equipment was intended to counter the army’s recent battlefield operations and interfere with drones and other military systems.
The Sudan Times could not independently verify Dagalo’s reported arrival or the presence of the electronic-warfare equipment. Neither the RSF nor TASIS had issued a public statement confirming the deployment as of Monday.
The reports emerged as fighting moved further west from El Obeid following several days of competing claims of advances and counter-attacks by the Sudanese army and the RSF.
The RSF said on September 18 that it had repelled an army and allied-force assault on Abu Quoud, west of El Obeid, claiming that its fighters inflicted losses and seized weapons and ammunition.
The army and allied forces, meanwhile, have reported capturing a series of villages and positions in North Kordofan and pushing towards areas including Sodari, Umm Badr and Al-Mazroub.
Neither side’s battlefield claims could be independently verified.
Fighting approaches key civilian centres
The Kordofan Observatory warned on Monday that the spread of military operations towards Al-Mazroub could expose civilians to violations and trigger large-scale displacement if the area becomes a direct battlefield.
Al-Mazroub has remained an important commercial centre for western North Kordofan, receiving goods from Al-Dabbah in Northern State and serving thousands of residents from surrounding communities.
Against that backdrop, local sources have accused RSF forces of attacking an artisanal gold-mining area around Umm Badr and later entering Al-Mazroub market.
Sources cited by Sudan Tribune said a large RSF force arriving from Darfur entered the Umm Badr mining area, forced miners to leave and took equipment and money belonging to workers.
The Dar Hamar Emergency Room separately said five civilians, including a goldsmith, were killed and 27 others wounded during violence around the Umm Badr gold market.
The group attributed the attack to the RSF.
Local sources also alleged that another RSF force moving westwards entered Al-Mazroub market, assaulted traders and looted goods.
The Sudan Times could not independently verify the allegations, and the RSF has not publicly responded to the specific claims concerning either Umm Badr or Al-Mazroub.
Battle for western North Kordofan widens
The developments point to a widening struggle over western North Kordofan and the routes connecting the state with West Kordofan and Darfur.
Army-aligned sources say recent operations are intended to push further west and disrupt RSF supply routes from Darfur, while the RSF maintains that its forces remain capable of stopping army advances.
Electronic warfare and drones have increasingly featured in the fighting.
Army-aligned media have accused the RSF of operating drone-launching positions around Umm Badr and said ground forces intend to target them. Those claims have not been independently verified.
The RSF, meanwhile, has continued to describe the North Kordofan front as an active counter-offensive rather than a retreat, saying after the Abu Quoud fighting that its operations were continuing.
The increasingly fluid front has placed communities across western and northwestern North Kordofan under mounting pressure, disrupting markets, transport and artisanal mining while raising fears of further civilian displacement as fighting approaches populated areas.
