War and Cholera Escalate in Sudan’s Darfur and Kordofan
Sudan Events – Agencies
Local sources in Sudan reported that ongoing battles in the Darfur and Kordofan regions, coupled with a cholera outbreak, are “escalating and devastating both regions and their populations.” According to the sources, the city of El-Fasher, the largest in Darfur, witnessed heavy clashes early Monday between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which have besieged the city for more than a year.
The sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the army continues to repel successive RSF assaults on southern and eastern parts of El-Fasher, as the paramilitary group attempts to advance toward the army’s divisional headquarters in the city center. El-Fasher remains the army’s last stronghold in Darfur, while the RSF controls the rest of the vast region.
Meanwhile, the General Coordination of Displaced Persons and Refugees Camps in Sudan announced the deaths of 25 people within 48 hours in Darfur. Citing a press statement by spokesman Adam Regal, Sudan Tribune reported on Monday that 12 people died from cholera on Saturday and 13 more on Sunday.
The statement confirmed that cumulative cholera cases have reached 11,733, including 454 deaths. The area most affected lies some 60 kilometers west of El-Fasher, accounting for 5,417 cases and 78 deaths. On Sunday alone, 58 new cases were reported. The spokesman warned that the epidemic continues to spread across other parts of Darfur, including Jebel Marra, Zalingei, Nyala, and several displacement camps.
“These challenges threaten lives and represent a nightmare and a forgotten humanitarian catastrophe ignored by the international community in a country torn by war, famine, disease, and epidemics,” Regal said.
Darfur has been experiencing an unprecedented cholera outbreak since June, according to humanitarian organizations and civil groups.
Escalating Battles in Kordofan
In Kordofan, the RSF released video footage on social media claiming to have regained control of the strategic town of Kazgil in the north of the region, capturing large numbers of army troops and allied fighters.
The region has seen a surge in fighting in recent days, with battles intensifying around 40 kilometers south of El-Obeid, Kordofan’s largest city.
In a statement on Telegram, the RSF said it had secured full control of Kazgil and Al-Riyash on Monday morning after decisive clashes with the army and is advancing from multiple fronts toward El-Obeid. The statement claimed “the enemy suffered heavy losses, with hundreds killed,” and that the RSF seized 43 combat vehicles and destroyed dozens more.
The RSF described the recapture of the two areas as a significant step in its broader campaign to seize El-Obeid and move on to other strategic targets.
“Sudan Shield” Forces
At the same time, armed factions fighting alongside the army announced the deaths of several top commanders in recent clashes around El-Obeid. The Sudan Shield Forces, led by Abu Aqla Kikel, said its sector commander Qamar al-Din al-Jazouli was killed in Bara, a town the army recaptured from the RSF last week in what it hailed as its biggest advance in Kordofan. Also killed was officer Mohamed Malik al-Zein, a member of Kikel’s personal security detail.
Kikel defected from the RSF last year to join the army. His forces, composed largely of fighters from central Sudanese tribes, have since taken part in battles to retake Al-Jazira state and the capital Khartoum. They are now engaged in Kordofan operations.
Separately, Musbah Abu Zaid Talha, leader of the Al-Baraa bin Malik movement, said on Facebook that five of his commanders were killed in Kordofan: Abdel Rahman al-Kheir (Khartoum sector), Khalid Abdullah and Abdel Aziz Yahya (Port Sudan sector), and Mohamed Abdullah and Abdel Sattar Jaber (West Kordofan sector).
Last week, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Al-Baraa bin Malik, describing it as one of the most prominent Islamist armed groups linked to ousted president Omar al-Bashir’s regime. Washington accused the group of playing a key role in igniting the April 2023 war and of receiving training and weapons from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
