Sudan Army Repels Major RSF-SPLM-N Assault on Al-Barka in Blue Nile

3 June 2026

Sudanese army officers and soldiers celebrate the recapture of Mogja, Blue Nile region, on April 20, 2026

June 3, AD-Damazin — The Sudanese Armed Forces announced on Wednesday that they had repelled a large-scale attack by the RSF and SPLM-N alliance on the town of Al-Barka in the Blue Nile region, in the latest round of fighting around the strategic border town of Kurmuk.

The Fourth Infantry Division said in a statement that its forces and support units “succeeded in foiling a wide attack on the Al-Barka area in southern Blue Nile, after executing a precise ambush that resulted in the destruction and seizure of a number of combat vehicles and inflicting heavy casualties in lives and equipment on the attacking forces.”

However, pro-RSF platforms simultaneously broadcast video footage appearing to show RSF elements inside a Sudanese army base in Al-Barka, suggesting the town had changed hands — at least temporarily — following the attack, which was launched by large alliance units from early morning. The army had seized Al-Barka in late May as part of its push toward Kurmuk.

Colonel Ubadi al-Tahir, commander of the “Al-Naba al-Yaqeen” army convoy, said forces were at full readiness to meet the attack and that the military plan was executed with high precision, concluding the battle in a short time. He said the operation confirms the vigilance of the armed forces in protecting strategic areas and countering attempts to destabilise Blue Nile region.

Pro-army platforms also circulated footage showing destroyed RSF combat vehicles.

Fighting has escalated across Blue Nile since March, when the RSF and SPLM-N launched a broad military operation that enabled them to seize Kurmuk and surrounding areas. Operations in the western and southern parts of the region have caused significant humanitarian deterioration, with thousands of civilians displaced toward Ad-Damazin, where many are living in shelters, amid intensive drone use by both sides.