Saturday, May 16, 2026 (Baidoa Online) โ Sudan's national army has retaken the town of Khor Hassan in southeastern Blue Nile State from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), marking a significant shift in one of Africa's deadliest ongoing conflicts.
The Sudanese army confirmed in an official statement that its forces seized control of Khor Hassan, inflicting heavy losses on RSF personnel and destroying significant military equipment in the process.
Blue Nile State has emerged as one of the most contested battlegrounds in Sudan's civil war, which began in April 2023 following a bitter power struggle between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti.
The state's strategic importance cannot be overstated โ it shares a border with Ethiopia, provides access to Sudan's vital Al-Roseires Dam, and sits atop vast deposits of gold and other natural resources. Whoever controls Blue Nile State holds a powerful advantage in the broader war.
Sudan's government has publicly accused Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates of providing support to the RSF โ allegations both countries have firmly denied.
The recapture of Khor Hassan is part of the army's broader effort to retake Kurmuk, a garrison town near the Ethiopian border that the RSF has been using as a base to expand its territorial control and resupply its forces across the region.
The RSF had originally seized Khor Hassan in March with support from its ally, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N).
The war has devastated Sudan โ more than 150,000 people have been killed since fighting broke out, and over 12 million Sudanese have been displaced, creating one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.
For Somalia and the wider Horn of Africa, instability in Sudan carries serious consequences. The ongoing conflict disrupts regional trade routes, fuels refugee flows across East Africa, and undermines efforts toward broader peace and stability in the region.