SPLM-N Retakes Kauda After Internal Mutiny In South Kordofan

Kauda, August 20, 2026 - The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North retook full control of Kauda after two days of fighting, restoring its hold over a strategic rebel stronghold in South Kordofan’s Nuba Mountains.

The SPLM-N faction led by Abdelaziz al-Hilu launched an offensive on August 17 to suppress a mutiny by fighters from the local Otoro clan in Heiban County. By August 18, its armed wing had recaptured the town, including the Luwere district, where senior movement leaders live.

The fighting followed long-running land boundary disputes between the Otoro and Shawaya communities that escalated into armed confrontations in March. SPLM-N forces also regained administrative offices and public buildings that had been seized during the unrest.

The clashes have displaced thousands of civilians over the past month, with homes, aid premises, government offices and the central market burned or looted. Inmates were also freed from the local Kudi detention facility during the disorder, while an Otoro committee accused SPLM-N forces of unlawful killings, arbitrary detentions and forced displacement.

The episode underscores the fragility of armed-group control in South Kordofan, where the SPLM-N remains outside Sudan’s fragile peace process and holds territory that is politically and militarily consequential for any future national settlement.