Sudan Army Says it Inflicted Heavy Losses on RSF in Kordofan

Destroyed RSF vehicles burn near Abu Qawad in North Kordofan following clashes on August 21, 2025.

August 21, 2025 (EL OBEID) – Sudan’s army and allied armed groups said on Friday they had inflicted heavy losses on the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) during fierce clashes near the strategic city of El Obeid in North Kordofan.

The fighting, which began on Wednesday and continued through Thursday, marks a significant counter-attack by the army in a region where the RSF has recently made substantial gains.

A spokesman for the pro-army joint force, Ahmed Hussein Mustafa, claimed its troops had destroyed 130 RSF combat vehicles and captured 92 others in the town of Abu Qawad. He added that a number of RSF fighters were taken prisoner.

The army’s offensive followed an RSF ambush on an army reconnaissance unit west of El Obeid on Wednesday, which killed several soldiers, including a prominent commander of an allied Islamist-leaning brigade.

Local sources said the army and its allies advanced west from El Obeid, engaging the RSF in heavy battles. Social media platforms loyal to the army broadcast images showing destroyed and captured vehicles, purporting to be from the clashes.

The battle is significant as the RSF had pushed the army and its allies back into El Obeid in recent months, capturing surrounding territory.

The RSF, in turn, has been accused of forcibly displacing civilians from villages west and south of the city to secure the area and block army supply routes to the war-torn Darfur region.

War between Sudan’s army and the RSF erupted in April 2023, creating the world’s largest displacement crisis and pushing millions to the brink of famine.