Fighting rages in Dilling after RSF attack
Widening war threatens civilians in Nuba Mountains city
Heavy fighting erupted in Dilling in the Nuba Mountains today after the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) attacked the army’s 54th Infantry Brigade headquartered in the city.
Videos like the one above showed civilians fleeing en masse, amid sounds of heavy gunfire. Dilling had a population of 60,000 when the last census was taken in 2008.
Today’s fighting followed earlier skirmishes in the Dilling area, but it appears to have resulted from an orchestrated attack, rather than anything spontaneous. Commander Hussein Barshom, who has led attacks on other Kordofan towns, and whose troops executed prisoners of war after an attack on Baleela in neighboring West Kordofan State in November, appeared in a video today from Dilling.
Moreover, a video has surfaced of RSF commanders planning the attack, discussing the location of enemy forces and mentioning several place in Dilling.
Three forces are now present in Dilling: RSF, the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF), and the the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), as well as mobilized civilians affiliated with SAF. A large force of SPLM-N arrived in Dilling just days ago, deploying in several neighborhoods, amid reports of reprisal killings within the army and high inter-communal tensions between the Nuba and Arab tribes.
As reported by Ayin prior today’s events, the SPLM-N troops entered Dilling “in collaboration with SAF,” and Sudan Tribune likewise reported a pact between the two sides, whereas local sources speaking with Radio Dabanga dismissed talk of an agreement, while confirming both forces were present in the city without hostilities.
General Kuku Idriss, the SPLM-N regional leader, said in a speech that SPLM-N “entered Dilling to protect Nuba civilians, claiming the RSF and allied militias were targeting the Nuba people following clashes in Habila in December” and previous attacks in the Dilling area itself last year.
However, so far today we haven’t seen any visual evidence of SPLM-N’s involvement in the fighting. Politically, SPLM-N are neutral in the current war between the army and the RSF, but ethnically their troops have more in common with the army, whose ranks include some Nuba, whereas the RSF have mostly Arab fighters.
Some videos and social media posts coming from Dilling today, including this one showing civilian fighters moving alongside army vehicles, reflect a strongly ethnic tone. The cameraman in this repeatedly shouts “Nuba above [long-live the Nuba]!” and “Come, Misseriya!” equating the RSF with the Misseriya Arab tribe.
There has been no official statement yet from the Sudan Armed Forces. Pro-army social media accounts claimed that they repulsed the RSF attack, with the assistance of “popular resistance” fighters—a reference to mobilized civilians.
Some widely circulating photos showed army soldiers and allied civilian fighters in the city, while others showed a burning vehicles said to belong to the RSF.
