Africa Insight
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Security - 11 August 2026

Cholera And RSF Blockade Deepen Crisis In North Kordofan

By Amina Kabasele2 min read

Al-Mazroub, August 11, 2026 - The humanitarian situation in North Kordofan has deteriorated sharply as a cholera outbreak converges with combat, supply shortages and allegations of abuses by the Rapid Support Forces against civilians. Medical staff in Al-Mazroub said the local hospital's isolation ward is receiving about 20 cholera and acute watery diarrhoea cases a day, with more than 50 patients admitted on Sunday and Monday alone.

The facility is short of food and medical supplies, while an RSF blockade on local roads is restricting aid deliveries and civilian movement. The North Kordofan Health Ministry had previously recorded about 600 cholera cases and 21 deaths in Al-Mazroub through July.

Local accounts also describe looting in the market, seizure of private property, unlawful detentions, abductions and killings, with civilians accused by RSF fighters of passing targeting information to the Sudanese air force. The crisis follows Sudanese army advances on July 25 and 26, when it took Bara, Jabrat Al-Sheikh, Umm Sayala and the Export Road, pushing RSF units west toward Sodari, Umm Badr, Al-Mazroub and Hamrat Al-Waz.

Al-Mazroub is strategically important because its road network links North Kordofan to Darfur, making it a key staging area for forces regrouping from other battlefronts.

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