Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces said on Monday they had seized full control of Babanusa, a strategic transport hub in the country’s oil-producing south. The group said its advance in West Kordofan followed the repulsion of what it described as a surprise General Abdel Fattah al Burhan’s army assault that violated an existing humanitarian truce.
The battle for Babanusa marks another rupture in a conflict that has burned across Sudan since April 2023, fracturing towns and scattering families. US President Donald Trump said on 19 November that he would intervene to halt the war, adding new international pressure on the warring sides.
The United States, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Saudi Arabia — collectively known as the Quad — proposed a three-month ceasefire earlier in November to stabilise conditions before political talks. The capture of Babanusa extends RSF momentum following the fall of al-Fasher in October, Burhan’s army’s last foothold in the wider Darfur region.
The latest advance underscores the shifting front lines of a war that shows little sign of easing despite growing diplomatic engagement.
