RSF and SPLM-N Attack Arm’s Positions in Blue Nile, Capture Strategic Area

3 February 2026

SPLA-N fighters at the strategic town of Deim Mansour of the Blue Nile region on Feb 3, 2026

February 3, 2026 (ED DAMAZIN) – The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) launched an attack on Tuesday on three sites in the Blue Nile region of southeastern Sudan, seizing the strategic town of Deim Mansour.

A Sudanese official accused Ethiopia of facilitating the passage of the attacking forces.

On January 26, the army regained positions in Bau County in Blue Nile from a coalition comprising the RSF and SPLM-N, one day after the coalition had seized them using forces that advanced from within South Sudan.

The SPLM-N, led by Abdel Aziz al-Hilu, announced it had taken control of the strategic town of Deim Mansour, as well as Bashir Nuqu and Khor al-Budi in Kurmuk County, following battles with the Sudanese army.

The movement stated on its Facebook platform that it captured combat vehicles, tanks, and drones during the assault on these locations.

Deim Mansour is considered a critical strategic town whose fall is feared to clear the way for the army to lose the city of Kurmuk.

Reliable sources reported that it was attacked by a large force for several consecutive hours, supported by drone strikes that destroyed army ammunition depots and vehicles.

Video footage released by the SPLM-N showed defences it claimed belonged to the army in the captured areas, along with heavy artillery positioned inside trenches.

The army has not yet issued a comment regarding these developments.

Kurmuk Commissioner Abdel Ati Mohamed al-Faki said on Tuesday that the RSF and SPLM-N attacked army garrisons in the county, including Deim Mansour and Khor al-Budi, and that the army was engaging them.

In a related development, a high-ranking government official told the Sudan Tribune that Ethiopia was involved in the escalation by facilitating the passage of RSF and SPLM-N forces.

He stated that these forces launched from within Ethiopian territory to attack army positions in Kurmuk County.

The official reported that military intelligence had monitored the infiltration of RSF and SPLM-N groups from the Benishangul-Gumuz region in Ethiopia more than three days ago, crossing the border at the Yabus area in the Blue Nile region.

He further explained that the drones used to attack army defences in the Blue Nile region on Tuesday were launched from bases overseen by the United Arab Emirates in the Benishangul-Gumuz region.

The official emphasized that the army is capable of protecting the borders and defeating what he described as a foreign invasion supported by Ethiopia and the UAE.

Last June, the Sudanese army cleared the RSF and its allies from parts of the Blue Nile, forcing them to withdraw under military pressure toward areas adjacent to the borders with Ethiopia and South Sudan.