International attention is increasingly fixed on Sudan, where chaos is ensuing in the city of El Obeid.
The war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary group, Rapid Support Forces (RSF), now in its fourth year, has increasingly expanded to the southern and eastern domains of the nation. Since the conflict’s beginning in 2023, over 150,000 deaths have been reported according to The New York Times, while the country has faced the collapse of both its economy and medical system.
A key turning point in the war occurred last October, when the RSF successfully expelled the SAF from the strategic position of El Fasher. The massacre that ensued saw over 6,000 deaths according to an OHCHR report, although some estimates place the figures far higher. Global concern is rising that a similar outcome may play out once more in El Obeid.
As such, this guide will explain the importance of El Obeid in the struggle between the SAF and RSF.
What is El Obeid?
El Obeid is the capital of North Kordofan, one of the three Kordofan states among Sudan’s eighteen provinces.
Sitting about 360 kilometers southwest of the capital of Khartoum, the city is home to an estimated population of 563,400 people, according to World Population Review. The city is also home to over 100,000 displaced people. A major SAF stronghold, El Obeid is home to the military’s 5th Infantry Division. An SAF airbase and its joint operations room with Egypt are also based there.
The city has since come under heavy drone fire from the RSF.
Why is El Obeid strategic?
Hosting key logistics for the SAF, El Obeid is an integral command hub of the military. Expelling the SAF from El Obeid not only provides the RSF with access to such logistics, but would be a pivotal morale hit for the military.
El Obeid is also a critical crossroads city. It lies at the intersection of highways linking central Sudan to Darfur and other southern states, and is home to the only functioning rail spur leading into western Sudan. That has made the city a critical transit point for the transfer of weapons among SAF units traversing central, western, and southern Sudan.
The city additionally carries economic weight. El Obeid is home to not only a large market of gum arabic–a strategic commodity used in everyday food products and beverages–but also a pipeline carrying South Sudanese oil to Port Sudan, the headquarters of the SAF.
What will victory in El Obeid mean?
An SAF victory cements its control over the critical supply chains carrying both weapons and commodities that will be vital to the larger war and Sudan’s economy. It would also act as a significant morale boost, particularly given the legacy of the El Fasher defeat.
For the RSF, successfully expelling the SAF from El Obeid would provide it greater control over the wider Kordofan region. Additionally, it would cement the paramilitary’s grip over supply routes not only to transit weapons across the nation, but also commodities that are pillars of Sudan’s economy. Given El Obeid’s proximity to Khartoum, the city could also act as a launching pad for an RSF siege of the capital, which was regained by the military in late 2024.
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