A senior Rapid Support Forces delegation has arrived in Sudan’s Nuba Mountains in an effort to end renewed fighting around Kauda between the Atoro community and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North, one of the RSF’s key allies.
The military and tribal delegation travelled to areas controlled by the SPLM-North as part of a mediation initiative ordered by RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, following months of tensions and intermittent clashes.
Kauda, the historic stronghold of the SPLM-North in South Kordofan, has witnessed repeated violence involving fighters from the Atoro community and SPLM-North forces during 2026.
Accounts differ over the causes of the conflict. Some local figures have linked the fighting to disputes involving traditional administration and local boundaries, while others say the violence reflects deeper political and military disagreements between Atoro leaders and the SPLM-North.
Local community leaders have alleged that more than 500 members of the Atoro community have been killed and more than 25,000 people displaced, while dozens of villages have reportedly been burned. The figures have not been independently verified.
Sources cited by Sudan Tribune said the mediation delegation is headed by Major General Hassan Mahjoub al-Fadil, director of the executive office of the RSF commander.
The delegation has begun a series of meetings with the parties to the conflict to establish the causes of the violence, contain further escalation and seek arrangements for a more durable cessation of hostilities.
Dagalo had earlier ordered the establishment of a mediation mechanism comprising senior RSF commanders and representatives of traditional administrations from Darfur and Kordofan to investigate the clashes and seek a negotiated settlement.
The parties subsequently announced a cessation of hostilities to allow the initiative to proceed, although security conditions have remained fragile and fighting has periodically resumed.
The delegation also includes Major General Mahdi al-Amin Kubba, the RSF’s director of training affairs, as well as several tribal leaders, including Rizeigat chief Mahmoud Musa Madibbo.
During its visit, the delegation held separate meetings with senior SPLM-North officials, including SPLA-North chief of staff Ezzat Koko and SPLM-North deputy leader and Nuba Mountains governor Jago Makwar, in the Kuya area.
According to the sources, the delegation outlined the mandate of the mediation mechanism and discussed possible measures to prevent renewed fighting and address the humanitarian and security consequences of the conflict.
The next stage of the initiative is expected to involve direct talks with representatives of the Atoro community led by acting Mek Koko al-Digeil Damjalla.
The meeting is expected to take place in or around Kauda as mediators seek to bring both sides into a broader process aimed at ending the months-long conflict.
