RSF Siege of Sudan’s Dilling Portends Humanitarian Disaster in South Kordofan
The city of Dilling in Sudan’s South Kordofan state is facing an imminent humanitarian crisis amid the continued siege imposed by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The Kordofan region, with its three states West, North and South, has become the latest battlefront in the nearly three-year war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the RSF.
Alarming Situation
The Sudan Doctors Network – a professional body of doctors that tracks the conflict and provides community services across Sudan – warned on Saturday of the situation in Dilling, the second largest city in South Kordofan.
In a statement, the Sudanese medical group noted that the ongoing heavy bombardment of Dilling by the RSF and their ally, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement–North (SPLM-N), has led to civilian casualties.
However, the group could not identify the accurate figures due to the disruption of communication networks in the city, which hindered communications with its field teams.
Moreover, the Sudan Doctors Network warned that the RSF siege of Dilling remains “extremely severe,” causing acute shortages in food and essential medical supplies which risk triggering a health and humanitarian disaster.
Humanitarian Call
In light of this, the Sudanese medical group urged humanitarian agencies and international organizations to act immediately to lift the siege, facilitate access for food and medical aid, and protect civilians and health workers to prevent the exacerbation of the already dire conditions in South Kordofan.
Furthermore, the Sudan Doctors Network urged the international community to act immediately to prevent the repetition of El-Fasher scenario in South Kordofan. The RSF captured El-Fasher in late October 2025, amid reports of atrocities against civilians.
Dilling Siege
For nearly 9 months, the RSF and SPLM-N, collectively known as Tasis Forces, have been besieging Dilling and Kadugli, the capital city of South Kordofan state, with reports of intensive artillery shelling and drone attacks that resulted in a wave of mass displacement.
On Friday, the SPLM-N urged civilians to evacuate the cities of South Kordofan, calling on the Sudanese army forces in Kadugli and Dilling in particular to surrender, reported Sudan Tribune.
In a statement, the Chief of Staff of the SPLM-N army, Izzat Kuku Angelo, asked officers and soldiers of the SAF’s 14th Infantry Division in Kadugli and the 54th Infantry Brigade in Dilling to hand over the two cities to avoid loss of lives, property, and infrastructure.
He also said that the Tasis Forces will “take over Kadugli and Dilling,” urging civilians to leave all sites affiliated with the SAF and head to areas under the SPLM-N control.
On Wednesday, the RSF claimed Tasis Forces had taken control of a strategic area located between the cities of Kadugli and Dilling, in what it called an “essential step toward achieving strategic goals in South Kordofan.”
Senior RSF Leader Eliminated
In a separate development, the security advisor to the RSF commander in the Darfur region, Hamid Ali Abubakar, was killed on Thursday alongside several aides in a drone attack by SAF near the city of Zalingei, the capital of Central Darfur state.
In a statement on Facebook, the RSF security advisor, Basha Tabiq, mourned Abubakar, accusing the SAF of assassinating him and vowing that the army will “pay a heavy price for this crime.”
The conflict in Sudan has driven the country in effective partition, with each side declaring a government. Currently, the SAF controls 13 out of Sudan’s 18 states, consolidating its grip on Sudan’s south, north, east and center, including the capital Khartoum.
On the other hand, the RSF holds all five states of the Darfur region in the west, except for some northern parts of North Darfur that remain under the SAF control.
The war in Sudan broke out in April 2023 between the SAF and the RSF, killing thousands and displacing around 12 million people amid spreading famine and cholera outbreaks.
