Forces belonging to the Sudan Founding Alliance (TASIS) have announced the capture of the strategically important Al-Baraka area and its military base in Sudan’s southeastern Blue Nile region, challenging earlier claims by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan’s army that it had repelled an offensive in the area.
In a statement reported on Wednesday, the alliance said its forces had established full control over Al-Baraka, near the town of Kurmuk and the Ethiopian border, following fighting with Sudan’s military and allied armed groups.
TASIS described the operation as a significant battlefield advance aimed at strengthening its positions and securing military routes across the region, which the alliance refers to as New Funj.
According to the statement, its fighters captured several military vehicles, weapons and quantities of ammunition during the operation.
The alliance also claimed that hundreds of Sudanese military personnel and foreign fighters had been killed. The reported casualty figures and allegations concerning foreign combatants could not be independently verified.
Conflicting accounts of the fighting
The announcement follows claims by Sudan’s military that its Fourth Infantry Division had successfully repelled an offensive involving the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N).
The military said its troops and allied units had inflicted substantial losses on the attacking forces, destroyed military equipment and prevented further advances around Al-Baraka.
TASIS, however, maintains that its fighters have secured the area and captured a major military installation.
Neither side’s account of the latest fighting could be independently confirmed.
Al-Baraka has changed hands or been the subject of competing territorial claims during earlier rounds of fighting. TASIS previously announced control of the area in March, while subsequent clashes demonstrated the continuing military contest for positions around Kurmuk.
Strategic importance near Ethiopia
Al-Baraka lies within Kurmuk locality in the Blue Nile region, close to Sudan’s border with Ethiopia.
Its location makes it important for military movement, supply operations and control of access routes connecting Kurmuk with other positions across southeastern Sudan.
The surrounding mountainous and wooded terrain complicates conventional military operations while offering opportunities for mobile forces to establish defensive positions and conduct manoeuvres.
Control of the area could strengthen the alliance’s ability to move forces across the region and maintain pressure on Sudanese military positions.
Kurmuk itself is a strategically important border town, serving as a transport and logistical link between Sudan and neighbouring Ethiopia.
TASIS vows further advances
In its statement, the alliance pledged to continue operations against military positions controlled by the Port Sudan authorities and armed groups it accuses of supporting Islamist political and military networks.
TASIS said its broader objective remained dismantling the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood and its allied factions within Sudan’s military establishment.
The coalition includes the RSF and SPLM-N forces operating under the broader Sudan Founding Alliance.
Blue Nile has become an increasingly contested front in Sudan’s war, with fighting concentrated around border settlements, military installations and routes linking the region to other parts of the country.
