Fierce fighting in western Sudan raged for a second straight day after the army launched simultaneous attacks on Rapid Support Forces (RSF) positions in North and West Kordofan on Thursday, with both sides making conflicting claims of battlefield gains. The Sudanese army has released no official details of the fighting, but Major Mutawakkil Ali Wakil, spokesman for the army-allied Joint Force, said the two forces had launched sweeping operations across Kordofan, recapturing Umm Sumayma, Kazgeil, Al-Hammadi and Abu Quoud. The operations inflicted heavy losses in fighters and equipment on the RSF, he said. "Our forces destroyed 40 combat vehicles and seized another 43 with all their equipment," Wakil said in a statement, adding that troops were pursuing RSF fighters who had fled the battlefield. He said the Joint Force would continue fighting alongside the army and allied forces until all RSF-held territory was recaptured. Chairman of Sudan's Transitional Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan speaks with Russian President Vladimir Putin (not pictured) during their talk on the sidelines of the third Russia-Africa Summit in Moscow, Russia, 30 October 2026. EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV / POOL The Joint Force's claims of territorial gains could not be independently verified. The Joint Force of Armed Struggle Movements, which previously joined the Sudanese army in its war against the RSF, includes the Justice and Equality Movement, led by Jibril Ibrahim, and the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army, headed by Darfur Governor Minni Arko Minnawi. Pro-RSF media platforms, however, painted a sharply different picture, claiming RSF fighters had ambushed the advancing troops, killed large numbers of them and seized fully equipped combat vehicles before retaking the contested areas. The platforms suggested the army had retreated to El Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan state, after suffering setbacks on several fronts. Neither side typically acknowledges losing territory until its opponent declares full control. The latest clashes follow months of advances by the army and allied forces, which have recaptured key areas of North Kordofan while pushing to gain control of neighboring West Kordofan, a state rich in oil. Reports have circulated for days that the army was preparing sweeping counteroffensives to reclaim RSF-held territory in West Kordofan. The towns of Kazgeil and Al-Hammadi have already changed hands several times between the warring sides. The army has not officially disclosed its latest troop movements, but commanders have previously signaled plans for offensives on multiple fronts to reclaim RSF-held areas. They said the goal was to retake towns across West Kordofan and open a route into the Darfur region in western Sudan.
