Sudan Army Resumes Heavy Air Strikes in South Kordofan

Dilling, April 22, 2026 - Sudanese military aircraft carried out heavy air strikes on Wednesday targeting positions of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) around the city of Dilling in South Kordofan, marking the return of fixed-wing air operations to the region after several months of suspension. Eyewitnesses reported seeing MiG fighter jets flying over Dilling and its outskirts for the first time in months, with strikes hitting areas including Al-Dulaymah, Al-Hujayrat, and Birno. The army said the bombardments were directed at RSF positions and allied forces. Military operations in Kordofan and Darfur had previously been scaled back after the RSF reportedly succeeded in downing several aircraft, including fighters and cargo planes, the last of which was lost near Babanusa in West Kordofan. Following those losses, the army had increasingly relied on drone warfare. Unmanned aerial strikes have since been used extensively against RSF positions and those of its ally, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), in and around Dilling as well as nearby towns such as Abu Zabad, Al-Fula, Al-Mujlad, and Lagawa, causing what military sources describe as significant casualties. Dilling, the second-largest city in South Kordofan, remains a contested strategic hub and has repeatedly come under aerial and artillery fire from the RSF-SPLM-N alliance, which also conducts periodic ground assaults aimed at seizing control of the area. Earlier this year, on February 10, the Sudanese army announced it had destroyed a K-2000 air defense system in Al-Dubeibat in South Kordofan and neutralized drones at Nyala Airport, operations it said were part of a broader strategy to degrade RSF defensive and offensive capabilities.