The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) suffered a defeat last Saturday when the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) ambushed and successfully repelled an offensive aimed at clearing towns and villages in Blue Nile State's Tadamon Locality, along the border with Sennar State.
The RSF first entered Blue Nile State in early July 2024, and its presence has expanded since late November. During an army offensive in Sennar State that month, the RSF did not attempt to defend urban centers, including Sinja and Dinder (map), instead preferring to withdraw to the countryside and attack the SAF elsewhere. Following their retreat southward into Mazmum in southern Sennar, the RSF expanded their control in northern Blue Nile State, first controlling Roro on November 20.
They have since maintained control over several key areas of northern Blue Nile such as Gariewa and Gereben. SAF has attempted unsuccessfully to recapture these areas, which are important due to their proximity to the South Sudan border, and because they provide a security buffer for the state capital, Damazin.
The RSF had also attempted to attack Bout, the capital of Tadamon locality, where the SAF maintains its 15th Infantry Brigade of the 4th Infantry Division on December 10, but was repulsed. While the RSF's presence in Blue Nile is not large, it has contributed to significant instability in what was once considered as a “safe” state, raising fears of attacks on the state capital, where the SAF's 4th Infantry Division is headquartered.
With SAF forces focused on an offensive to capture Wad Madani, the capital of Al Jazira State, the RSF's operations in Blue Nile seem aimed at tying down SAF units and preventing reinforcements from reaching the critical front in Al Jazirah.
The attack on December 28, launched from Guli in Tadamon locality, aimed to clear RSF-controlled areas in northwestern Blue Nile. However, RSF forces, led by a commander identified only by his nickname “Reno,” ambushed the SAF, inflicting heavy losses and scattering their troops.
Videos circulating online show SAF soldiers fleeing through farmland, pursued by RSF troops in pickup vehicles calling for their surrender. According to videos filmed by RSF combatants, the paramilitary group seized ammunition and military equipment during the clash, though the number of casualties remains unclear.
RSF forces executed a number of prisoners captured during the fighting, including a soldier identified as Al-Tayeb Mamoun Osman Saleh, a resident of Al-Hosh in Al-Jazira State, and an unidentified individual north of Guli town. Video recordings show RSF soldiers ignoring pleas to stop filming as they carried out the killings.
While the RSF forces in Blue Nile are limited compared to the SAF's overall strength, the SAF's ranks have been bolstered by former rebels from the SPLM/A-North (Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army-North) faction, led by Malik Agar, the deputy chair of the Transitional Sovereign Council. This faction signed the 2020 Juba Agreement, which provided for their integration into the SAF.
Unlike the RSF, whose tactics are shaped by years of experience in the harsh desert terrain of Darfur, SPLM/A-North forces lack similar expertise as many of them are inexperienced, having been rapidly recruited ahead of their integration into the SAF following the outbreak of war in 2023.
This was due to a significant reduction in their initial ranks after the 2017 split, when Abdelaziz el-Hillu, leader of another SPLM/A-North faction—which did not sign the 2020 peace agreement—took the largest portion of the forces. Al-Hilu’s faction of the SPLM-North still controls a corner of southeast Blue Nile, along the Ethiopian border.
Meanwhile, Wad Madani, the capital of Al Jazira State located more than 220 kilometers north of Blue Nile's border, remains a main focal point of SAF's efforts, though the RSF have also counterattacked there.
The back-and-forth fighting has made it difficult to map the conflict, as the SAF sometimes advance into an area, only to withdraw shortly thereafter. For example, the RSF attacked Wad Rawah, a village 98 kilometers north of the capital Wad Madani, on December 31, a day after SAF-allied militia led by Abu Aqla Keikel briefly occupied it. RSF forces, traveling in 18 pickup vehicles, burned the local market and killed seven civilians, including two women and a local imam known as Sheikh Abdelsalam.
Local sources say at least 17 others were injured and were rushed to Razigab Saleh, a eastern Al Jazira locality village and the location of the rearrest SAF position from Wad Rawah, for medical attention. Videos from January 1 show villagers fleeing as smoke rose from the burned local market and homes.
In a separate development, the RSF also raided again into White Nile State on December 29, attacking Nouri village, as indicated on this map.
According to the International Organization for Migration, an estimated 300 households were displaced, and there were reports of civilian casualties.
As previously reported in this publication, the RSF also attacked Jebelein in southern White Nile earlier in December, briefly controlling a key international border crossing.
Videos
⚠️ Graphic content ahead: Viewer discretion strongly advised.
In this video filmed on December 28, following the fighting, an RSF combatant is seen pointing to a captured vehicle in Blue Nile State, which he alleged to be full of ammunition and other military equipment.
In the video below, RSF soldiers can be seen filming and ordering SAF soldiers to surrender, saying, “Put the gun down, you dog.”
In this video, RSF soldiers can be seen executing two SAF prisoners of war: Al-Tayeb Mamoun Osman Saleh, wearing a t-shirt, and another SAF soldier.
In this video, RSF soldiers encircle a SAF prisoner of war, hurl racist insults at him, and then execute him.
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