Sudan’s battlefronts have expanded from the Blue Nile region to Kordofan amid rising humanitarian costs, as a US diplomatic effort seeks to support inclusive dialogue among political forces and establish a roadmap for a settlement.
Damazin at the centre of the military escalation
Massad Boulos, the US president’s senior adviser for Arab and African affairs, announced that the United States was ready to support this process, as the negotiating positions of the two sides remain far apart. The clashes are concentrated in part around Damazin, the capital of the Blue Nile region and the Sudanese army’s military centre of gravity.
Sudanese academic and researcher Fathi Abu Ammar said the city’s importance stemmed from its vital economic and geographical location, as well as its status as a border meeting point between the Nuba Mountains, Kordofan and the south, giving the battle for it military and strategic dimensions.
Abu Ammar said the latest escalation reflected an intense struggle between the army and the Rapid Support Forces to impose control and expand the geographical areas held by each side. Political researcher Mohy El Din Mohamed Mohy El Din, for his part, said that the armed forces and civilians’ defence of Damazin “stems from confronting the crimes committed by the militia (the Rapid Support Forces)”.
Mohy El Din alleged that the Rapid Support Forces reached the area through understandings and collusion with the Ethiopian regime, exploiting border gaps to penetrate it with international support. Addis Ababa denies these allegations, as border areas grow in importance in the calculations of the confrontation and military operations expand.
Displacement expands as civilians are targeted
On the humanitarian front, the International Organisation for Migration recorded the displacement of more than 5,500 people over three days in Blue Nile. People were also killed and wounded after drones belonging to the Rapid Support Forces targeted civilian homes in Damazin, alongside an attack by the forces on Al-Tayba village in Kordofan.
Abu Ammar cited reports by the United Nations fact-finding mission, which condemned both sides of the conflict for violations against civilians, and called for an end to calls for military escalation. Paul Ejeimi, an expert on African affairs, stressed that the primary responsibility lay with both sides to cease fire and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid, limiting the suffering of people affected by the war.
Dispute over the truce and the Jeddah framework
On the political track, US efforts to establish a humanitarian truce and launch inclusive dialogue have run up against the position of the Sudanese government. Mohy El Din said the government rejected a proposed 90-day truce because it viewed it as entrenching the separation of Darfur, and insisted on returning to the “Jeddah Agreement framework” before reaching any new agreement.
According to Mohy El Din, this framework requires the Rapid Support Forces to withdraw from civilian facilities and areas they have seized, as well as an end to external arms supplies to the forces. Abu Ammar, meanwhile, said the US and international vision was based on removing armed actors from the political and economic scenes and making room for civilians, recalling the army’s previous disavowal of the agreements reached through the “Manama Forum”.
Ejeimi said the multiplicity of initiatives involving Jeddah, Manama, the African Union and the US proposal had produced overlaps and contradictions that hindered progress. He added that the absence of trust and goodwill among Sudanese parties would obstruct any roadmap unless Sudanese themselves agreed to end the war through unified and effective mediation.
International quartet pushes for a humanitarian truce
The United States and Saudi Arabia have for months been leading efforts to secure a humanitarian truce through the international quartet, which also includes Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.
The war between the army and the Rapid Support Forces has continued since April 2023, killing tens of thousands and displacing about 13 million people, according to United Nations and international estimates.
