Sudan’s Military Gains in Kordofan Reveal a Victory Without Peace

The Sudanese Army’s territorial advances in Kordofan may signal tactical success, but the spreading violence around Babonosa exposes the hollow nature of military victories in a conflict that has already displaced millions.

A Nation at War with Itself

Sudan’s ongoing civil conflict, which erupted in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has transformed from a power struggle in Khartoum into a nationwide catastrophe. The fighting in Kordofan—a region historically marginalized and resource-rich—represents just one theater in a war that has engulfed Africa’s third-largest country. With over 10 million people displaced and thousands killed, Sudan faces what the United Nations has called one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

The significance of military movements in Kordofan cannot be understated. This region, which bridges Sudan’s north and south, holds strategic importance for controlling supply routes and natural resources, particularly oil fields that once fueled Sudan’s economy. For the SAF, advances here represent more than territorial gains—they signal an attempt to cut off RSF supply lines and reassert state authority over areas that have slipped into lawlessness.

The Babonosa Flashpoint

The renewed fighting around Babonosa, a town in West Kordofan near the South Sudan border, illustrates the conflict’s evolving dynamics. This area has become a critical junction for humanitarian aid routes and cross-border trade, making it a prize for both warring parties. The “reignited” clashes suggest that previous attempts at local ceasefires or territorial arrangements have collapsed, leaving civilians trapped in recurring cycles of violence.

International observers note that the pattern of advance-and-retreat in areas like Babonosa reflects the fundamental inability of either side to achieve decisive victory. While the SAF may claim advances in some areas of Kordofan, the RSF’s guerrilla tactics and local support networks ensure that no territorial gain remains secure. This military stalemate has created a patchwork of contested zones where state authority has effectively ceased to exist, replaced by a devastating security vacuum.

The Hidden Cost of “Advances”

Each reported military advance carries a human toll that rarely makes headlines. In Kordofan, where ethnic tensions have long simmered beneath the surface, the current conflict has reignited old grievances and created new ones. Local communities find themselves forcibly recruited, their resources commandeered, and their social fabric torn apart by competing loyalties. The agricultural season has been disrupted for two consecutive years, pushing a region already vulnerable to climate shocks toward famine.

The international community’s response has been notably inadequate. While regional powers pursue their own interests—with Egypt supporting the SAF and the UAE allegedly backing the RSF—humanitarian access remains severely restricted. The focus on military developments like those in Kordofan often obscures the more pressing reality: Sudan is experiencing state collapse in real-time, with institutions, infrastructure, and social services disintegrating across vast swaths of the country.

Beyond the Battlefield

The tragedy of Sudan’s conflict lies not in the military campaigns but in what they represent—the complete failure of political solutions. The advances in Kordofan may strengthen the SAF’s negotiating position, but they do nothing to address the root causes of the conflict: the struggle over Sudan’s political future, the role of military forces in governance, and the equitable distribution of resources in a diverse nation. As long as both sides believe military victory is achievable, the suffering of ordinary Sudanese will continue.

As Sudan burns and the world’s attention drifts elsewhere, we must ask ourselves: What does it mean to “advance” in a war where every captured town is emptied of its people, where every tactical victory deepens the humanitarian catastrophe, and where the very idea of Sudan as a unified nation-state grows more distant with each passing day?