![Signpost at the Kurmuk Locality headquarters. [Photo courtesy]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sudanspost.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/images-72-3.jpeg?ssl=1)
Sources familiar with the fighting told Sudans Post that drones struck positions in and around Kurmuk in the early hours of Thursday before RSF ground forces attacked from across the Ethiopian border.
The sources said the aerial strikes were followed by fighting as the paramilitary force moved toward the town from the Ethiopian side.
The assault came a day after the RSF captured Geisan, another strategic locality in southeastern Blue Nile close to Ethiopia, marking a rapid escalation along a front where the Sudanese military had regained considerable ground in recent weeks.
Kurmuk had been largely abandoned by civilians since SAF recaptured it in July, according to sources who spoke to Sudans Post. They said the smell from bodies left behind after the fighting had made conditions inside parts of the town unbearable, while security concerns prevented most residents from returning.
The sources said SAF did not maintain a large permanent presence throughout the town after its recapture. Instead, army reconnaissance teams and patrols regularly entered Kurmuk and monitored surrounding areas while the military maintained its main positions along the road linking the border town with Damazin farther north.
The limited civilian presence and pattern of military patrols meant Thursday’s fighting occurred in a largely deserted town, the sources said. It was not immediately clear whether SAF units withdrew before the RSF entered Kurmuk or fought from positions in and around the town before pulling back.
In a statement on Thursday, the RSF said its forces had seized Kurmuk following fighting with the Sudanese army and claimed to have inflicted heavy losses in personnel and equipment.
“The valiant fighters and heroes of the Sudan Founding Alliance forces today liberated the strategic area of Kurmuk — 136 kilometres from the city of Damazin — and cleared it of the army of the terrorist Islamic Movement and mercenaries after a heroic battle,” the RSF said.
The paramilitary group said its forces pursued retreating army troops and captured large quantities of weapons and ammunition, which it said were still being inventoried. Sudans Post could not independently verify the RSF’s claims about casualties or the amount of military equipment captured.
The Sudanese military had not issued a statement on the reported loss of Kurmuk at the time of publication and had not publicly responded to the RSF’s claims regarding casualties and captured weapons.
Thursday’s attack marks another reversal in a series of rapid changes in territorial control along the Blue Nile front. SAF retook Kurmuk in early July after advancing south from Sali and Sirkum along the main road from Damazin, reversing one of the most significant gains made by the RSF and its allies earlier this year.
