Weeks after losing El-Fasher, in North Darfur State, the Sudanese Armed Force (SAF) backing Abdel Fattal al-Burhan are staring down the barrel of another significant loss to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), this time in West Kordofan.
The RSF are claiming a huge battlefield victory over the SAF, after apparently overrunning the 22nd Infantry Division headquarters in Babanusa.
The SAF have issued a statement disputing this but sources say RSF fighters are now occupying the garrison.
The largest remaining SAF garrison in West Kordofan was under siege for more than two years before reportedly falling into the hands of the RSF who accused Burhan of showing blithe disregard to calls for a ceasefire which the paramilitary group led by his old foe Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo or Hermati unilaterally accepted.
Burhan recently publicly accused U.S envoy Musad Boulis of not being impartial enough in the conflict and working at the behest of the UAE, a known backer of the RSF.
The paramilitary group said in a statement that although it was amenable to the idea of a ceasefire, it would continue with its operation to repel attacks by SAF units.
The fighting in Babanusa carried the same narrative, according to the RSF.
Videos have emerged, showing jubilant RSF fighters inside the garisson town, the second largest after the capital El Fula, which is strategic in military transport logistics terms for both belligerents.
An RSF statement corroborated by military sources said the SAF defenders of Babanusa had been routed and forced to desert the town following weeks of heavy fighting.
The fall of Babanusa represents the heaviest defeat for Burhan’s forces since the loss of El Fasher in October and underlines an irrepressible RSF momentum in Sudan’s civil war which began in April 2023.
With this latest conquest, the RSF appear unchallenged in West Kordofan, a strategic area of Sudan neighbouring South Sudan’s oil-producing regions.
Flushed with victory in El Fasher, RSF reserves had been sent to the latest warfront where they had engaged a depleted SAF force which eventually beat a retreat following a heavy assault on their base on Sunday and Monday.
SAF defenders of the garrison may have retreated to Heglig near South Sudan’s Unity State, according to military sources.
WN/as/APA