Truce on Paper, Battles on the Ground as Sudan’s Warring Sides Clash Again
Sudan’s army says it has beaten back a fresh offensive by its rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the country’s oil belt, even as international efforts to halt the year-and-a-half-old war struggle to gain traction. On Tuesday, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) reported that its troops pushed RSF units away from the city of Babanusa in southern West Kordofan State, a day after the RSF announced a unilateral three-month humanitarian truce.
In a statement, the SAF said it had killed several RSF field commanders, “hundreds” of fighters, and captured or destroyed multiple vehicles used in the assault. At the same time, the volunteer Sudan Doctors Network accused the RSF and Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North of storming the Al-Zallataya gold mine in neighboring South Kordofan and abducting more than 150 young men and boys. The group called the attack a breach of international humanitarian law and urged the immediate release of all detainees and an end to forced recruitment.
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The RSF has yet to respond publicly to either accusation.
The clash comes days after a diplomatic push known as the Quad—Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and the US—proposed a three-month nationwide humanitarian truce followed by a nine-month political process. The SAF rejected the blueprint, warning it would “eliminate” the army’s role and dissolve security agencies while leaving the RSF “in its positions.”
By contrast, the RSF said it would honor the three-month pause in operations to ease aid deliveries and offer “hope” to a population “exhausted by this war,” promising to cooperate with international monitors and punish abuses by its forces.
Fighting between the SAF and the RSF since April 2023 has killed thousands, displaced millions, and pushed vast parts of Sudan toward famine, creating one of the largest humanitarian emergencies on the planet.
