RSF Seizes Sirkum Garrison in Blue Nile
Routed army defenders flee as RSF claims prisoners and equipment
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) captured the military garrison of Sirkum in Sudan’s Blue Nile State on Saturday, June 20, 2026, according to videos geolocated by Sudan War Monitor, as drone strikes elsewhere in the country killed and injured civilians in White Nile and North Kordofan states.
Sirkum sits roughly 12 kilometers southwest of Sali in Kurmuk locality and has functioned as a defensive position guarding the Sali–Dindiro road, one of the principal routes toward Damazin, the capital of Blue Nile State.
RSF field commanders said their fighters took a number of prisoners of war along with tanks, weapons, ammunition and other military equipment left behind by retreating Sudanese army forces. Sudan War Monitor could not independently verify the scale of those claims, though one geolocated video shows RSF fighters posing in front of a tank also visible at the garrison on satellite imagery, corroborating the RSF claim in part.
Drone footage published by the RSF shows more than 100 Sudanese army soldiers manning Sirkum’s defenses who broke ranks and fled after coming under attack. The video, low-resolution throughout, includes a scene in which a pursuing RSF combat vehicle runs over a fleeing soldier. Sudan War Monitor could not verify the soldiers’ fate beyond what is visible in the clip.
Fighting continues along the Sali–Dindiro axis, where Sudanese army forces have been attempting to slow the advance of RSF and allied Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) in Kurmuk locality.
The capture of Surkum is the latest escalation in a joint RSF/SPLM offensive in Blue Nile State since January. Last week, SAF said it had repelled an attack on Amora station in Geisan locality, as both sides continued to exchange attacks and contest frontline positions. In March, RSF forces captured the border town of El Kurmuk near Ethiopia — a key development triggering further SAF territorial losses in the months since.
Humanitarian Toll
The renewed fighting in Blue Nile has accelerated what was already a fast-growing displacement crisis. According to the International Organization for Migration’s, an estimated 59,742 people — 11,956 households — had been displaced from locations across Blue Nile State as of May 21, a 21% increase over the 49,512 recorded just three weeks earlier. Kurmuk locality alone accounted for roughly half of that figure, with 30,025 people displaced from the locality, more than from any other in the state; most fled toward Damazin and other towns further from the front line.
IOM has linked recent spikes in displacement to insecurity in villages within Kurmuk Locality — including Dokan, Kereng Kereng, Khor Hassan and Abego — that sit along the same axis as Sirkum and Sali. Across the state, IOM put the total displaced population at 371,148 in May, with 72% of newly displaced people sheltering at informal gathering sites rather than formal camps.
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