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The attacks opened several fronts at the same time as the army sought to push farther west from positions it consolidated during earlier fighting in North Kordofan and increase pressure on RSF forces along routes linking the region with West Kordofan and Darfur.
A security source familiar with the El Obeid front said troops moved west from the North Kordofan capital along the main road toward En Nahud in West Kordofan, reaching the Al-Mamsouka village.
“The army and allied forces launched an attack west of El Obeid this morning and advanced along the road toward En Nahud. Fighting is continuing in several positions west of the city,” the source told Sudans Post.
The village lies along the road running west from El Obeid through Umm Sumeima and Al-Khuwei toward En Nahud, an important corridor connecting North Kordofan with West Kordofan and Darfur.
Fighting has repeatedly taken place on the western and southwestern approaches to El Obeid as the army and RSF compete for control of the roads leading out of the state capital. Heavy clashes were reported in August around Umm Arada and other positions west of the city.
A second security source said another army force pushed west from Bara toward Sharshar and surrounding areas.
“Another force moved west from Bara toward Sharshar and surrounding areas. The operation is aimed at pushing the RSF farther away from Bara and expanding the army’s positions westward,” the source said.
The army and allied forces recaptured Bara in July during an offensive that also brought Jabrat al-Sheikh, Umm Sayala and other positions along the main road between Omdurman and El Obeid under government control.
Bara has since become one of the main forward positions for army operations farther west, while RSF forces have continued to operate in western and northwestern North Kordofan.
A third security source said army and allied forces also moved west from Jabrat al-Sheikh on Thursday to capture Al-Sodari, the administrative capital of Sodari locality of North Kordofan State.
“There is also an operation west of Jabrat al-Sheikh. Army and allied forces moved from the town toward RSF positions, and clashes are continuing along that axis,” the source said. Sudans Post has also geolocated an army convoy entering Sodari here: 14°24’51.63″N 29° 6’29.45″E.
The army had reinforced the Bara and Jabrat al-Sheikh fronts in recent weeks, widening the area under its control around the two towns. Military sources previously reported preparations for additional operations toward western North Kordofan.
In South Kordofan, army-aligned forces also advanced north from Dilling toward Al-Farshaya.
The movement was initially difficult to verify, but video footage later posted by Sudanese military-aligned fighters and reviewed by Sudans Post showed army-allied forces inside Al-Farshaya. A Sudanese army source separately told Al Jazeera that government forces had taken the area after fighting with the RSF.
Al-Farshaya is located north of Dilling and has been an important RSF concentration point along the northern approaches to the city. Its position also places it on one of the routes connecting Dilling with North Kordofan and it lies west of the main road between Dilling and El-Obeid road.
The advance opened a fourth ground axis in addition to the operations west of El Obeid, Bara and Jabrat al-Sheikh.
The operations come as Kordofan has become one of the main battlegrounds in Sudan’s war. The army has been trying to expand westward after reopening the main road between Omdurman and El Obeid in July, while the RSF has sought to retain routes connecting its forces in Darfur and West Kordofan with positions farther east.
