Heavy fighting has once again erupted across Sudan as the national army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) exchanged fierce strikes on Monday. The latest round of violence has centered on the western and southern regions of the country, further deepening the humanitarian crisis in an area already reeling from years of conflict.
The Sudanese army launched targeted air strikes in the Darfur region, specifically hitting the town of Zalingei. The town is a strategic state capital currently under the control of the RSF. Local witnesses described seeing thick plumes of smoke and flames billowing from a building in the area, which a military source later confirmed was an RSF warehouse used for storing supplies.
The violence quickly spread to the neighboring Kordofan region. In the town of Dilling, the RSF responded with a drone strike that targeted a government building housing the humanitarian aid agency. This attack comes shortly after the army managed to break a long-standing siege on the town. Dilling has remained a volatile front line since the war began in April 2023, and the recent strikes suggest that neither side is ready to back down.
The situation in South Kordofan is particularly dire. Military sources indicate that the army is currently pushing toward Kadugli, the regional capital. The human cost of this advancement is staggering; the United Nations reports that nearly 80 percent of Kadugli’s residents, roughly 147,000 people, have already fled their homes. Many are escaping with nothing as the RSF shifts its focus toward this fertile southern territory following the fall of El-Fasher in October.
Humanitarian leaders are sounding the alarm, describing South Kordofan as the most dangerous and overlooked front in the entire conflict. Jan Egeland of the Norwegian Refugee Council recently warned that the region is spiraling into a man-made nightmare, with entire cities being systematically starved. There are growing fears that the atrocities witnessed in other parts of the country, including massacres and abductions, could soon be repeated here if the fighting does not cease.
As the conflict intensifies, the international community continues to watch with concern. The shifting battle lines in Darfur and Kordofan indicate a dangerous escalation that threatens to displace even more families and push the region further into a state of total collapse.
