RSF Claims Capture Of Strategic Kurmuk Border Town

Kurmuk, August 13, 2026 - The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces announced that they had taken control of Kurmuk in Sudan's Blue Nile region after heavy clashes with the Sudanese army, marking a significant shift along the country's southeastern frontier with Ethiopia. The RSF said its fighters seized weapons and ammunition and forced army units to withdraw.

Local authorities said the town had faced several days of drone, artillery and long-range attacks, while military accounts described strikes on army fortifications launched from across the Ethiopian border. Kurmuk is a strategically important border crossing about 136 km from Ed Damazin and a key supply route in southeastern Sudan.

Its fall, if consolidated, would strengthen RSF mobility near Ethiopia and increase pressure on army positions in Blue Nile State. The development follows an RSF push in the same region that included the capture of Qaysan, another important town near the Ethiopian border.

The fighting raises investor-relevant risks around cross-border logistics, regional spillover and the durability of state control in peripheral trade corridors.