![Sudanese army soldiers at the entrance of General Command in Khartoum. [Photo courtesy]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sudanspost.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/image-3.png?ssl=1)
The army announced the capture after fighting alongside the Joint Force, a coalition of former Darfur rebel movements. Videos geolocated by Sudans Post showed soldiers and allied fighters at several locations inside the town.
Sodari’s fall extends the military’s westward advance following gains earlier this month and the capture of several towns along the main road between El Obeid and Khartoum in July. The RSF still controls parts of Sodari locality and positions west and south of El Obeid, the North Kordofan capital.
Multiple sources who spoke to Sudans Post said that around 17 prisoners of war were killed inside Sodari town when the military and allies stormed into the town on Friday. The source said some of the prisoners include those who surrendered and some who were already wounded.
“There are about 17 people who have been killed by the army. Most of them surrendered and others were wounded when they surrendered to the Sudanese Armed Forces. This is a very normal behaviour of the SAF. They kill who ever they capture during battles,” the source added.
In its statement on Friday, the military said its troops and supporting forces had captured Sodari after fierce battles, claiming heavy losses among RSF fighters.
“With God’s help and guidance, our forces today liberated the Sodari area in North Kordofan State after fierce battles that inflicted heavy losses in personnel and equipment on the terrorist militia,” the statement said.
The army did not provide casualty figures or details of equipment destroyed or seized. It did not also address the treatment of prisoners.
Footage geolocated by Sudans Post showed Joint Force fighters outside a fuel statoon in the western part of Sodari. Another video showed Sudanese soldiers in front of the town’s branch of the National Health Insurance Fund.
The latest capture brings the administrative centre under army control, but leaves other parts of the locality in RSF hands. The paramilitary still controls Umm Badr and Hamrat al-Sheikh to the northwest.
The loss comes days after RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, widely known as Hemedti, addressed a force being sent toward Kordofan in an effort to slow the army’s advance.
The column was named “Martyr Mudawi,” after a deceased RSF commander. Speaking before the departing fighters, Hemedti promised further military action and pledged to fight ahead of his men rather than behind them.
“Now it is the gun that speaks,” he said.
Hemedti urged fighters to follow their commanders’ instructions and said military operations required discipline and experience as well as courage. He also instructed them to protect civilians and not to kill prisoners captured alive.
It remains unclear whether the column reached Sodari before Friday’s battle or whether any of its fighters took part in the town’s defence.
The current army offensive began on September 17, with forces advancing toward Sodari while separate units attacked RSF positions west of El Obeid. The operations target areas the paramilitary retained after losing several major towns in July.
Earlier in the offensive, the RSF said it had repelled an army assault on Abu Qa’ud and captured weapons and ammunition. Sudan War Monitor documented army forces in nearby Mamsuka but could not independently verify the losses claimed by the RSF.
The fighting around El Obeid remains a separate challenge for the military. The RSF holds control of Abu Qa’ud and Umm Sumaima west of the city and Kazgil to the south, preventing the army from claiming control of the whole state.
North Kordofan connects army-held central Sudan with the western regions where the RSF maintains much of its territorial control. Sodari locality borders North Darfur to the west and West Kordofan to the southwest.
In July, army and allied forces captured Bara, Jabrat al-Sheikh and other settlements along the highway connecting El Obeid with the Khartoum region. That advance restored a direct road connection that had been cut by RSF positions.
