Key takeaways
- Sudan’s army said on Oct. 2 that it captured al-Mazroub in North Kordofan, a town it described as a link between army-held North Kordofan and RSF-held West Kordofan, according to Al Jazeera.
- Army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said on Oct. 6 that the “military option” would continue until the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are removed, rejecting negotiations, per the Sudan News Agency as reported by Al Jazeera.
- The RSF still holds almost all of Darfur after taking el-Fasher in October 2025, and Mada Masr reported, citing sources, that it is preparing a new front from Ethiopia. The RSF has not confirmed that report.
- Humanitarian figures from UN-backed and UN agency sources describe acute hunger for 19.5 million people and more than 219,000 newly displaced in Kordofan since February.
Three and a half years into Sudan’s civil war, the front line has moved to Kordofan, the central region between army-held Khartoum and RSF-held Darfur. On October 2 the Sudanese army announced the capture of al-Mazroub, and on October 6 its chief said he would not negotiate. This report sets out what each side claims, what independent monitors and aid agencies report, and where outside mediators stand. Most battlefield claims below come from the parties themselves and could not be independently confirmed.
What the army says it has gained
The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) said on Friday, Oct. 2, that they had taken full control of al-Mazroub after fierce fighting, Al Jazeera reported. Army special forces spokesman Mohamed Deidan told the Anadolu news agency the town links army-controlled North Kordofan with West Kordofan, which is an RSF stronghold, and called the advance a major turning point. Al Jazeera said the army has pushed the RSF out of much of North Kordofan, which increases pressure on the paramilitary group’s supply routes. Earlier this autumn the army also announced it had captured Sodari, which we covered in a separate brief.
On Saturday, Oct. 3, the army’s Fourth Infantry Division said it had delivered a “knockout blow” to the RSF and its ally, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), in Blue Nile state, claiming heavy losses for them. There was no immediate RSF comment, Al Jazeera noted.
What the RSF holds and where it is moving
According to Al Jazeera’s explainer, the army controls Khartoum and most of the north, east and centre, while the RSF controls much of western Sudan, including almost all of Darfur and parts of Kordofan. South Kordofan remains contested and SPLM-N holds pockets in the south. The balance shifted when the RSF captured el-Fasher, the army’s last major Darfur stronghold, in late October 2025; Reuters reported at the time that the RSF said it had taken the army headquarters there.
Mada Masr reported on Oct. 9, citing activists and sources it did not name, that the RSF has dug trenches and built earth berms around the city of En Nahud in West Kordofan, and that large numbers of RSF fighters were being moved to Addis Ababa to be transferred toward Sudan’s eastern border. It also reported that RSF forces seized the Kadalo mountains area in eastern Blue Nile after attacking from inside Ethiopia, citing a military source. Those reports rest on unnamed sources, and the RSF has not publicly confirmed them. Ethiopia’s role is sensitive; see our separate coverage of the Ethiopia-Eritrea dispute at the UN.
In El Fasher itself, the Darfur24 news site reported on Oct. 6 that returnees said RSF intelligence had begun a wide arrest campaign, accusing civilians of collaborating with forces allied to the army. A source close to the RSF told Darfur24 that arrests had targeted some returning civilians and that movement restrictions were imposed for what it described as precautionary security reasons.
Humanitarian picture
The shifting front has not eased the humanitarian emergency. Al Jazeera, citing the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, reported that about 19.5 million people, more than 40 percent of the population, faced acute hunger as of May, with 14 areas in North Darfur, South Darfur and South Kordofan at risk of famine and about 825,000 children projected to suffer severe acute malnutrition this year. The International Organization for Migration said in July that people newly displaced across Kordofan had risen by nearly two-thirds since February to more than 219,000, and on Oct. 6 it said more than 5,500 people were displaced from villages in Blue Nile over three days. Al Jazeera’s analysis of ACLED data put about 19.7 percent of the war’s recorded attacks in Kordofan, second only to Khartoum.
On civilian harm, a local group, the Dar Hamar Emergency Committee, said 10 civilians were killed in an RSF attack on Abu Ajal village in West Kordofan on Oct. 6. We have not been able to verify the figure. Our earlier brief on an RSF attack in Kordofan and an explainer on the Kordofan corridor give more background.
Why it matters
Kordofan sits between the army’s heartland and Darfur, so control of its towns and roads shapes both sides’ supplies and the prospect of a de facto division of the country. The conflict has expanded to 13 of Sudan’s 18 states and has displaced about 14 million people, Al Jazeera reported, while an earlier UN-based estimate cited in its Oct. 7 report put the figure near 13 million. The difference reflects different estimates and dates. Neighbouring states, aid agencies and Washington all have stakes in whether the war widens toward the Ethiopian border.
Where diplomacy stands
Al-Burhan said on Tuesday, Oct. 6, at a gathering in Merowe that he would take “every inch” of RSF-held territory and that the military option would continue, according to the Sudan News Agency as reported by Al Jazeera. On Monday, Massad Boulos, the U.S. senior adviser for Arab and African affairs, wrote on X that peace could come through an “inclusive Sudanese-owned and Sudanese-led national dialogue” and a transition toward civilian-led government. The U.S. State Department said last month that neither the army, the RSF nor their leaders “represent legitimate, constitutional governance for Sudan.” The RSF has not, in the reporting we reviewed, announced a response to al-Burhan’s statement. The Sudanese pound has also lost nearly half its value in army-held territory since the start of summer, Al Jazeera reported.
What to watch: whether the army moves on En Nahud and Al Khuway as Al Jazeera reports it intends; whether fighting spreads along the Blue Nile-Ethiopia border; and whether any mediator can bring both sides to talks after the army’s public rejection.
Sources
- Al Jazeera: Is the Sudanese army gaining momentum against the RSF? (Oct. 4, 2026)
- Al Jazeera: Sudan’s al-Burhan rejects talks, vows to retake all territory from RSF (Oct. 7, 2026)
- Mada Masr: RSF preps new front from Ethiopia, pummels Blue Nile (Oct. 9, 2026)
- Darfur24: RSF intelligence arrests returnees in El Fasher (Oct. 6, 2026)
- Reuters: Sudan’s RSF says it captured al-Fashir army headquarters (Oct. 26, 2025)
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