The Sudanese army says it controls the main road connecting Khartoum and El-Obeid | Story

The capture of the Al Sadarat highway will help the Sudanese army stop the RSF’s push to capture El-Obeid in North Kordofan.

The Sudanese army has announced that it will resume patrolling the main road that connects the capital Khartoum with El-Obeid, a city surrounded by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The capture of the Al Sadarat highway on Sunday will enable the Sudanese army to move troops, weapons, fuel and supplies, as well as prevent the RSF from pushing to capture El-Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan.

Nearly half a million people have been trapped in the city, with the United Nations warning of a humanitarian crisis, as residents face serious threats from the RSF.

In a statement on Sunday, the Sudanese army said it had recaptured cities and towns between Khartoum and El-Obied following two days of fierce fighting with the RSF, which controlled the highway.

The attack was the first attack on the army in months.

The army said its forces recaptured the areas of Um Qurfa and Jarigakh after operations that “caused heavy loss of lives and weapons (of RSF fighters), forcing them to flee”.

“With this victory, the army has taken control of the export route of Omdurman Al-Abyd”, said the army, referring to the main road of Al Sadarat.

Improving access to social services

Al Jazeera’s Al Migdad Alruhaid said the capture of the road restores “direct communication between the capital and Kordofan for the first time in months”.

“This is important because this road is an important supply route for the military,” said Alruhaid.

“It allows the army to move fuel, soldiers and weapons very quickly to el-Obeid instead of relying on a long route through the White Nile State. And this move also reduces the pressure on el-Obeid, which has been separated from the positions of the RSF, while they can open an important channel for the trade of livestock and agriculture from the Kordofan region,” he said.

“For civilians, protecting this road can also help those affected by the war.”

The RSF has been in control of the 350km (217-mile) highway since April 2023, when a conflict between the Sudanese army and the RSF erupted over disagreements over the group’s integration into the national army.

Failure to control the route will prevent the RSF from taking El-Obeid – a city whose capture would give the army all of western Sudan.

The conflicts have killed about 40,000 people, according to the World Health Organization, and forced more than 14 million people to flee their homes.

In El-Obeid, UN Women said last week that women and girls “are now faced with an impossible choice for something as important as a bucket of water: the risk of a drone strike while picking during the day, or being raped while waiting until dark”.

It said sexual violence had been used as a weapon throughout Sudan’s three-year war, with reports of rape in front of family members and brutal torture.