Sudan: El Burhan Visits Newly Captured North Kordofan Towns

What the report says

AllAfrica, carrying a Dabanga report from Port Sudan, says Sudan’s Sovereignty Council president and army commander, Lt. Gen. Abdelfattah El Burhan, visited Bara, Jabra El Sheikh and Um Sayala in North Kordofan on Monday. The trip came one day after the Sudanese Armed Forces announced they had taken the towns from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. According to the Sovereignty Council, El Burhan travelled by military helicopter and inspected frontline troops with Darfur Governor Minni Arko Minnawi, North Kordofan Governor Abdelkhaliq Abdelatif and Sudan Shield Forces commander Abu Agla Keikil.

The report says the fighting is centered on control of the Omdurman-El Obeid Export Road, a route analysts described as a major military and logistical corridor. Brig. Gen. Walid Ezzeldin told Radio Dabanga that control of Bara and nearby areas could help the army move personnel, ammunition, fuel and supplies toward Kordofan and Darfur, while reducing the risk of attacks on convoys.

Nihad El Tayeb of the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project said the recapture of Bara, Jabra El Sheikh and Um Sayala was a significant strategic gain because it reconnects SAF forces in El Obeid with units farther east and improves supply options. Political analyst Suhaib Hamid described the operation as a coordinated push along several axes to secure the El Obeid-Bara-Omdurman road.

Dabanga also reported early reconstruction plans in Jabra El Sheikh, including efforts to restore water, health and education services, and said MSF had indicated readiness to assess emergency medical needs in Bara. An RSF military source disputed the scale of the army’s victory, saying RSF forces still pressure El Obeid and control key water sources.