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Stationing additional forces, previously deployed in Darfur following the capture of El Fasher, the paramilitary RSF has escalated assaults on Babanusa, a key location for the army, where the headquarters of the 22nd Infantry Division was seized on December 1.

Having secured its dominance in Sudan’s Darfur by capturing the last city in the western region that was still putting up a fight, El Fasher, and killing the civilians who were trapped there at the end of October, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are now moving towards the east.

On Monday, December 1, the paramilitary forces captured the 22nd Infantry Division of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) – once their governing ally – in Babanusa, West Kordofan State, which had been under attack since January 2024.

LocatedLocated just to the southeast of Darfur, Babanusa sits at the western part of the key route leading to Khartoum, the former capital of Sudan, which the SAF-led administration moved to Port Sudan in the northeast following the conflict that began in April 2023.

It is the nearest of the major urban areas in Kordofan, which borders Darfur – the SAF’s “gatewayfrom Darfur in the region, including three states: North Kordofan, South Kordofan, and West Kordofan.

“If Babanusa falls, RSF fighters are likely to focus on Heglig, which houses a significant oil field and is Sudan’s final military base in West Kordofan,” the Center for Development Studies and the Prevention of Extremismreported this June.

Stationing additional troops, previously deployed in Darfur, following the capture of El Fasher, the RSF has escalated assaults on Babanusa. The SAF forces and local resistance fighters, overwhelmed in numbers, have been isolated even from the“unreliable airdrops” after the RSF shot down a freighter aircraftlate last November. On December 2, they experienced a loss.

Read: The final defense of El Fasher: “The city has been captured, but its honor remains”

The SAF, however, maintainsin a statement released on December 2, it claimed that its troops are still engaged in the city, contradicting reports about RSF’s control. However, the Sudan War Monitorreportedthat the sole remaining brigade from this division has withdrawn to “the southeastern part of West Kordofan, near the border with South Sudan,” where the Heglig oil field is situated.

The assault on Babanusa followed shortly after therejectionby Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, leader of the SAF and head of the Sudanese government located in Port Sudan, regarding the US-supported ceasefire plan proposed by the Quad.

The body comprises Sudan’s regional neighbors, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, along with the United States — all of whom have significant interests in the area, supporting both sides involved in the conflict.

“Any immediate ceasefire would halt the frontlines in a way that essentially confirms the RSF’s control over Darfur and portions of Kordofan,” reported the Sudanese War Monitor.

Expressing frustration that US President Donald Trump’s top Africa representative, Massad Boulos, had turned into “a medium for RSF viewpoints,” BurhansaidOn Sunday, it was stated that Boulos was “setting conditions on behalf of the militia’s international supporters.” This primarily referred to the UAE, a member of the Quad, to which the RSF is allegedly exporting gold obtained from Darfur in exchange for arms.

Read: A deadly conflict visible from space: RSF’s killings in El Fasher, Sudan

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Tagged: Sudan, Arms and Military Affairs, Legal and Judicial Affairs, East Africa, Conflict, Peace and Security

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