Sudan Nashra: Democratic Bloc convention fails to resolve divisive issues, participants say | RSF abuses in Tina villages trigger new displacement wave | Tawila-bound aid truck struck, shipment destroyed | RSF seizes Blue Nile’s Keili, pushes north

Subscribe to our Lens on Sudan newsletter here . A surge in violence over the past week has swept through the village belt of North Darfur’s Tina locality and nearby areas, as abuses by Rapid Support Forces (RSF) fighters against civilians drive yet another wave of displacement, according to two Darfur regional government officials. The escalation is the latest in a cycle that has persisted since Fasher fell in late October, as the RSF continues to push to capture the last military-held areas in the Zaghawa lands along the Chadian border. Caught between advancing RSF troops from Fasher and military forces positioned in the highlands behind them, these villages have effectively become an “unprotected buffer zone,” one official said. But beyond being caught in the line of fire, the villages have endured repeated raids by RSF fighters attacking people in their homes. According to a Tina resident, entire villages have been emptied under the threat of violence. Since late March, the situation has steadily deteriorated, sources at Tina’s emergency rooms told Mada Masr, describing a constant stream of people fleeing the area. The displaced often head to safer areas or overcrowded shelters near the Chadian border, in the hope of crossing to access humanitarian assistance. A volunteer at one such shelter said dozens of families arrive daily. Others — numbering in the thousands, according to a local humanitarian worker — have scattered across remote areas or remain exposed in the open without aid or protection. Even in relatively safer areas, many arrive after grueling journeys only to find little food, water or shelter, in places already strained by the near-total absence of humanitarian assistance. And when aid convoys make in onto the road , arrival isn’t guaranteed. Last week, a drone strike destroyed a United Nations aid truck en route to North Darfur’s Tawila, where hundreds of thousands of displaced people need assistance , wiping out emergency shelter kits that humanitarian workers had counted on for families sleeping out in the open. Aid convoys in Darfur and Kordofan have been repeatedly targeted throughout the war despite prior coordination with all sides. Each time, both the RSF and the military denied responsibility. After a drone strike hit a displacement camp in Zalingei, in RSF-held Central Darfur, on Tuesday, the General Coordination of Displaced Persons and Refugees in Darfur called for an international investigation into the continued targeting of civilians and humanitarian sites. The group blamed the military for the strike, which killed and injured several people. This week also saw drone strikes attributed to the RSF hit Obeid in North Kordofan, as well as Rabak and Kosti in White Nile State, causing casualties among civilians. On the ground, in the southeastern border region of Blue Nile, the RSF captured the town of Keili on Saturday, a key defensive position for Kurmuk, the strategic city they seized in late March. In the days that followed, fighting continued as RSF troops attempted to push further north. The military said it had repelled attacks on Sali and in the Magaja area of Bau locality. A military source attributed the escalation to reinforcements that reached the RSF earlier this week, including drones, weapons, combat vehicles, and large numbers of fighters and mercenaries. Beyond the battlefield, the Democratic Bloc — the coalition that has served as the military-led government’s main political base — convened this week in Port Sudan as it faces growing pressure to adapt to a shifting political landscape where its dominance is no longer assured . The bloc used the meetings — only its second such gathering since forming in 2021 — to adopt statutes and a formal structure after years of operating without bylaws or leadership mechanisms. A bloc official said the move is intended to transform it from a loose coalition into a more institutionalized political actor able to compete for influence in any future political process. Yet the effort to consolidate the bloc and present a unified front exposed persistent internal tensions during the meetings, according to the official and one of the participants who spoke to Mada Masr on condition of anonymity. Leadership appointments announced during the proceedings formalized existing power balances, having been effectively settled in advance, according to the participant. T he bloc’s hybrid composition was also the subject of debate. Bringing together civilian actors and powerful armed movements signatories to the Juba Peace Agreement, the bloc now finds its political future tied to how, and on what terms, those forces are absorbed into state institutions under the government’s plan to bring all arms under its control. *** Democratic Bloc looks to shore up political standing in meetings, but participants say divisive issues unresolved Signing of the Democratic Bloc’s internal statutes during its organizational conference in Port Sudan, April 26. Courtesy: Sudanese news outlet Dabanga. The Democratic Bloc convened in Port Sudan this week as pressure builds from Transitional Sovereignty Council Chair and Sudanese military chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan to redefine its role in Sudan’s transitional order. Bloc officials presented the meetings as leading to key reforms that “overcome organizational fluidity” and institute a clearer organization hierarchy that will allow the bloc to “be a key player in any future political process.” However, other participants in the meetings downplayed the extent of the reforms in comments to Mada Masr, saying that they largely cemented already established power dynamics. Moreover, the coalition was unable to make headway on several key issues, including the manner in which armed movements should be integrated into the state and whether political movements within the bloc should adopt a uniform stance alongside the state on participation with international initiatives. These questions are central for many bloc members who have enjoyed powerful positions since the war broke out. The bloc is a diverse group of actors ranging from powerful members of the current government and the military aligned joint forces in the Sudan Liberation Movement, led by Minni Arko Minnawi, and the Justice and Equality Movement, led by Finance Minister Gibril Ibrahim, to historic political parties like the Democratic Unionist Party, led by the Mirghani family. The meetings came at a moment when the bloc’s dominance within the ruling coalition is no longer assured. With new civilian actors being drawn into the scene and momentum building around the formation of a legislative council, the bloc is under pressure to secure its relevance as Burhan has moved to rebuild the military-led government’s political base. In February, Burhan signaled the possibility of forming a legislative council from segments of the 2018 revolutionary youth and resistance committees that aligned with the military during the war, a move two political sources said at the time was also intended to undercut the Democratic Bloc and signal that established political actors could be sidelined in the new council. Weeks later, he met with political actors linked to the revolution in what a TSC source described as an effort to pressure the bloc into repositioning itself as one actor among several. Burhan’s frustration with the bloc’s performance has been building for months. A source close to him told Mada Masr in February that he directly accused the coalition’s leaders of failing to “strengthen the state’s legitimacy” or complete its assignment of forming the long-delayed legislative council, the last remaining transitional institution. The pressure has extended into the security sphere. Last month, then-Assistant Commander-in-Chief of the Sudanese Armed Forces and now Chief of Staff Yasser al-Atta said the military leadership would begin integrating forces that have fought alongside it into the state’s security institutions, bringing arms under state monopoly. The integration plan is set to include forces from major armed movements signatory to the 2020 Juba Peace Agreement, several of which form a core part of the Democratic Bloc. For these groups, whose influence has been closely tied to their command over fighters and mobilization networks, the move has raised concerns that their leverage could be diminished. It is within this context that the bloc convened its organizational conference in Port Sudan for only the second time since its formation. The Democratic Bloc was established in 2021 after a split from the transitional coalition that had brought together Juba signatories and the Forces of Freedom and Change following the ouster of former President Omar al-Bashir. The bloc went on to play a role in shaping the conditions that led to the October 25 coup and later became the government’s primary political base. But having operated without a formal leadership structure or bylaws so far, the bloc is now attempting to move from loose coordination to a more institutionalized form to better its chances of securing a place in the political landscape shifting around it. Abdallah Yehia, a TSC member and the bloc’s external relations official, told Mada Masr that the meetings resulted in “a set of gains,” including the approval of internal statutes and the adoption of an organizational structure. He said these steps would enable the bloc to move toward defined “programs and assignments” that could translate into “tangible activities and achievements” with a political impact. But behind the effort to project cohesion, the meetings revealed points of strain. One key point of discussion was the relationship between political and armed action, given the bloc’s hybrid composition, according to one of the participants who spoke to Mada Masr on condition of anonymity. The fact that SLM (Minnawi) and the JEM form the backbone of the bloc’s influence on the ground also means that the coalition’s sway is tied to  the question of how, and on what terms, armed forces will be folded into the state. TSC Deputy Chair Malik Agar alluded to these tensions after the debate, remarking during the meetings that “arms are not a mechanism of democracy”— a statement the participant said was interpreted as criticism of a political coalition that maintains arms, despite Agar himself being a leader of an armed group. Speaking to Mada Masr, Yehia sought to contain the implications, framing Agar’s statement as one made in his official capacity as TSC deputy chair and dismissing suggestions of internal disagreements. He insisted the bloc remains cohesive. Even so, disagreements extended beyond this question. Debates also emerged over leadership roles and the distribution of political influence within the bloc’s internal structure, according to the participant. Leadership positions were formally assigned during the meetings, with Mohamed al-Amin Turk, head of the Beja Tribal Council , and Ibrahim appointed deputies to bloc head Gaafar al- Mirghani , deputy chair of the Democratic Unionist Party-Original . Minnawi took charge of the political sector, while Yehia assumed responsibility for foreign relations. However, the participant who refused to be named told Mada Masr that key leadership roles and decision-making positions had been settled in advance, suggesting the meetings formalized an existing balance of power rather than introducing meaningful internal change. In practice, the outcome appeared to consolidate influence among the bloc’s dominant factions, they said. The bloc also debated how to engage with international initiatives, with disagreements surfacing during the meetings over the participation of a representative from Minnawi’s group in the third International Conference on Sudan in Berlin on April 15 — an event the government condemned and several pro-military groups, including from within the bloc, boycotted. According to the bloc official, the move drew objections from some parties in the coalition who argued it had not been collectively agreed upon and left the bloc unevenly represented. Beyond internal points of contention, the bloc sought to identify openings in the political landscape. Discussions included the prime minister’s initiative, announced last week, to convene an intra-Sudanese political dialogue by the end of May, presenting it as a prelude to “free and fair elections.” According to the official, the bloc viewed the initiative as a potential platform to bolster their representational legitimacy amid growing competition from other civilian alliances. A former official in the government of former Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok previously told Mada Masr that Idris’s initiative fits within Burhan’s wider strategy to draw political forces into a process that could provide cover for further steps — including forming a legislative council, dissolving the TSC and potentially positioning himself as a presidential contender. *** RSF abuses in Tina’s villages drive new displacement wave New displacement wave in North Darfur, April 27. Courtesy: Mohamed Yahai via Facebook. Over the past week, the Tina locality and surrounding areas have seen an escalation in abuses by RSF fighters against civilians, triggering a new wave of displacement, according to a source in the Darfur regional government and an official in the region’s Health Ministry. The attacks are part of a broader pattern. Towns and villages in these areas — among the last pockets still held by the military and its allies in North Darfur’s Zaghawa belt along the Chadian border — have faced repeated cycles of violence with each military escalation since the RSF captured Fasher in late October. After months of instability and repeated flight, communities are acutely vulnerable. Many families had already sought refuge there after fleeing in the wake of Fasher’s fall, which, catastrophic in itself, came after a prolonged and suffocating siege lasting over a year and a half. Each new escalation and each new displacement now place an even heavier burden on populations with little left to absorb further shocks. According to a source in the North Darfur State government, these villages lie between two opposing military fronts: RSF troops advancing westward and northward from Fasher, and the Sudanese Armed Forces with its allied joint force, which have both repositioned in more rugged, mountainous terrain serving as rear defensive lines. This has left the belts of villages across Tina and neighboring Karnoi effectively exposed — an “unprotected buffer zone” vulnerable to advancing forces but beyond the protection of those positioned in the highlands, the source said. The landscape itself compounds the vulnerability. According to the source, wide, open plains interspersed with seasonal valleys leave settlements scattered and difficult to defend, particularly in the absence of fixed defensive infrastructure. The area has repeatedly become an “undeclared frontline,” the source said, alternately serving as a corridor for troop movements and a pressure point in the fighting. For civilians, it means repeated exposure to shelling and ground attacks, cycles of displacement, and the steady erosion of any sense of safety or stability, the source added. The latest wave of displacement in Tina and surrounding areas has been driven by an escalation in RSF attacks on civilian neighborhoods, according to a source in the executive office of the Tina Emergency Rooms Council. The situation has steadily worsened since mid-March, reaching “extremely deteriorated” humanitarian conditions by April, the source added. A field source from the emergency rooms described the assaults as a “systematic destruction of life,” pointing to grave violations, including direct attacks on homes and widespread looting that has stripped modest households of their remaining savings. Issa Ibrahim, who fled Fasher after its fall and sought refuge in Tina, said that RSF attacks in Tina and its villages have increasingly targeted civilians “directly inside their homes, leaving people no choice but to flee, sometimes with only the clothes they are wearing.” Entire villages, he added, have been emptied under threat of violence, while a near-total communications blackout has made it difficult to track those who have fled. Some families have been missing and out of contact since early April. Those who manage to flee often head toward relatively safer areas or shelters near the Chadian border, where some prepare to cross in search of humanitarian assistance. Others, whom the field source estimated to number in the thousands, have scattered into remote areas under harsh conditions, without access to protection or aid. The cumulative impact of repeated displacement is pushing people from Tina toward collapse. The Health Ministry official said growing numbers are now grappling with severe hunger and exhaustion, with many unable to secure even the most basic necessities after long, punishing journeys. Those who arrive in safer areas often find little relief — no income, no shelter, and severe shortages of food, water and basic services, according to the official. Since Fasher’s capture, around 5,700 families have been displaced from villages across the Tina locality, the field source said. But the pace has accelerated sharply since late March. In Abuliha village, for example, about 450 families have fled over the past month alone, heading toward the town of Karnoi in the neighboring locality, a local emergency room source said, while others have dispersed into more remote areas. For many, the next step is the Chadian border, despite restrictions on crossing. Chad has closed its border with Sudan following repeated military incursions into its territory. Some displaced people have still managed to cross through informal routes, but others remain stranded along the border or sheltering in valleys and rugged terrain, according to another source in the Tina Emergency Rooms. Several shelters near the border are absorbing a steady influx of families fleeing the fighting. “Everyday, we receive dozens of families suffering from severe psychological and physical trauma,” a volunteer at a border shelter center in Tina said. “But the area lacks even the most basic medical resources, and without humanitarian aid, we are unable to treat cases of acute malnutrition among children and pregnant women who have walked long distances.” On the Chadian side, displaced people rely largely on limited support from local communities, as humanitarian assistance remains insufficient to meet the scale of arrivals, the source in the Karnoi Emergency Room said. A field source from the joint force said the pattern of RSF attacks on civilian areas suggest a strategy of forced displacement in order to empty out the belts, rather than attempts to engage the military. Three residents confirmed there is no military presence inside the affected villages. *** Aid truck en route to Tawila’s displaced community struck, shipment destroyed A drone strike hit a UN aid truck bound for North Darfur’s Tawila on April 24, destroying critical supplies meant for hundreds of thousands of displaced people, the UN Refugee Agency said on Sunday. The truck was carrying emergency shelter kits to Tawila, an RSF-controlled area that hosts more than 700,000 people displaced by fighting elsewhere in the state. The strike ignited a fire that destroyed the entire shipment. The agency did not identify who was responsible. “Although the driver survived by a miracle, the fire that consumed the supplies reflects the dark reality facing humanitarian work in Darfur,” a source in the Tawila Emergency Room told Mada Masr. “Targeting the means of shelter and survival strikes at the heart of our ability to continue supporting thousands in isolated areas that depend entirely on these convoys.” A member of the aid transport team in Tawila said the convoy’s route had been pre-coordinated through established humanitarian corridors. The precision of the strike, the source added, suggests that relief movements are being monitored. “This forces us to reassess movement protocols in the absence of security guarantees from the warring parties, who are increasingly using control over airspace as a weapon of intimidation,” the source said. “We had been eagerly awaiting this shipment to distribute tents and shelter materials to newly displaced families sleeping out in the open,” a field relief worker told Mada Masr. “Its destruction means hundreds of families will remain exposed to harsh weather conditions. It is a direct attack on civilian lives.” Responsibility for the attack remains unclear, the source added, with repeated incidents previously blamed on both the military and the RSF. Throughout the war, convoys carrying life-saving aid in Darfur and Kordofan have repeatedly come under attack. In all instances, their routes were shared with the parties on the ground. Both sides have routinely denied responsibility and traded blame. The Tawila locality has become the largest hub for displaced people in North Darfur since Fasher fell in late October. Most fled Fasher and nearby areas over the past two years. Since the city’s capture, displacement has surged and continued since, overwhelming already fragile conditions marked by severe overcrowding, inadequate shelter, water and food shortages, and deteriorating health services. *** Zalingei camp targeted in drone strike attributed to the military Residents gather around the impact of the drone strike that hit the Hamidiya displacement camp in Zalingei, Central Darfur State, April 27. Courtesy: Official spokesperson for the General Coordination of Displaced Persons and Refugees via Facebook. In Zalingei, the capital of the RSF-controlled Central Darfur State, a residential area in the Hamidiya displacement camp was hit by a drone strike, killing and injuring several people, according to Sudanese humanitarian and medical networks, as well as a medical source who spoke to Mada Masr. The General Coordination of Displaced Persons and Refugees in Darfur attributed the attack to the military. According to the medical source, at least five people were killed, while the coordination body said the number of injury cases has risen to 15. The wounded were taken to the city’s already strained health facilities. Hospitals in Zalingei are facing severe shortages of life-saving supplies and medical staff, the medical source said, making it difficult to treat critical cases and placing an already fragile healthcare system under immense pressure amid ongoing fighting and repeated strikes. The coordination body called for an independent international investigation to hold those responsible accountable. *** Seven civilians killed in drone strikes on Obeid Seven civilians were killed and others were injured when drone strikes hit multiple locations across Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan, on Saturday, a medical source told Mada Masr. “We received people with severe injuries caused by shrapnel and direct explosions — people who were inside their homes,” a second medical source at the Obeid Teaching Hospital said. “The strain on health facilities is immense, with severe shortages of life-saving medicines and essential surgical supplies.” In the Daraga Oula neighborhood, which came under fire on Saturday, resident Mohamed al-Tom said the explosions struck suddenly, partially destroying several homes. “People are living in real fear. Death can come from the sky at any moment,” he told Mada Masr. With no sense of safety in their own neighborhoods, many are now weighing whether to flee despite the dangers of the journey, according to Tom. Once a key hub for supply and trade linking Kordofan, Khartoum and Darfur, Obeid is now under continuous bombardment, forcing markets to shut down and bringing civilian movement to a near-standstill, a government source at the state secretariat said. People are now afraid to even go to mosques or schools, the source added. *** RSF drones strike White Nile, southern Khartoum In White Nile State, the cities of Rabak and Kosti came under simultaneous RSF drone attacks on Tuesday, hitting both military and civilian sites and resulting in casualties, according to a local official and a security source. In Rabak, three drones struck different sites across the city, killing four civilians and wounding several others, according to the local official. One fell in the Rawashda neighborhood, another hit a joint force building and a third landed near Khoujlaby Mosque. Air defenses intercepted some of the drones, reducing the overall damage, the official said. Authorities later evacuated government facilities and surrounding areas as a precaution. In nearby Kosti, a security source said RSF drones attempted to strike military positions, including the 18th Infantry Division headquarters and the Kenana Air Base. The attacks, which the source said were thwarted, appeared to be aimed at a joint force convoy arriving from Kordofan. North of Kosti, in southern Khartoum’s Jebel Awliya, eyewitnesses told Mada Masr that an RSF suicide drone crashed on Tuesday near the Amal Hospital — the first such incident in the area in months. A medical source said no casualties were recorded. *** RSF seizes Blue Nile’s Keili, pushes north Sudanese Armed Forces show the vehicles they seized while repelling RSF assaults on Sali in Blue Nile, April 28. Courtesy: Military-aligned Telegram channel @sport6780. The RSF captured the town of Keili in the Kurmuk locality on Saturday and, days later, launched further assaults north of the town, targeting a key military defen sive position. In the statement announcing the takeover, the RSF said their fighters inflicted heavy losses on the military in personnel and equipment. Since the paramilitary group and its allied Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North, led by Abdel Aziz al-Hilu, captured the strategic city of Kurmuk on March 26, Keili — one of the historic areas of the Funj tribes — turned into an open battleground. The town serves as a defensive line for Kurmuk and lies 27 km from Sali, itself a key defensive position. A member of the pro-military civilian fighters told Mada Masr that the RSF assault on Keili involved Ethiopian mercenaries and was supported by strategic drone coverage, forcing the military to withdraw. According to the source, the RSF and the SPLM-N aim to use Keili as a base to expand operations across southern Blue Nile, including toward Sali, Dondoro and Qeisan. Days later, RSF fighters attacked Sali. The military said it repelled the assault on Tuesday, destroying 20 combat vehicles and seizing 10 fully equipped ones. A military source said the RSF renewed its offensive on Sali the following day while simultaneously attacking the Magaja area in Bau locality, but both assaults were repelled. The source linked the escalation to reinforcements that arrived for the RSF on April 22, including drones, weapons, combat vehicles, and large numbers of fighters and mercenaries. The allies, according to the source, are pushing for territorial expansion in southern Blue Nile ahead of the rainy season in June, which complicates operations as seasonal floods block routes and hamper the movement of troops and supplies. Since January , clashes have intensified across Bau, Kurmuk and Qeisan, accompanied by drone strikes on both military and civilian targets in areas such as Bakuri, Maganza and Dondoro. The deteriorating security situation has driven waves of displacement toward the state capital, Damazin, where camps are already overwhelmed. The Sudan Doctors Network warned of a looming catastrophe affecting more than 100,000 people across 10 displacement centers in the state capital as the rainy season approaches. *** Seven police killed in clashes with armed herders in Sennar Seven police officers, including a captain, were killed in clashes with armed herders inside Sennar’s Dinder National Park, Sudanese police said on Monday. According to the statement, the incident occurred while officers were carrying out routine patrols within the reserve. Police spokesperson Fath al-Rahman al-Tom told Mada Masr the clashes broke out on Sunday evening when a group of herders attempted to move cattle into the reserve. He said security forces later regained full control of the area, but acknowledged the broader challenge posed by the spread of weapons beyond state authority, which he described as one of the most significant consequences of the war in Sudan. He added that security agencies are working through joint coordination between the police, the military and the General Intelligence Service, including patrols and community outreach efforts aimed at curbing the spread of arms. A government source linked the incident to major shifts in Sennar State during 2024, when the RSF entered the area. The expansion of fighting into the state has fueled arms proliferation and weakened administrative and security control. The source said weapons have spread through both the arming of civilians the military had mobilized to protect the cities, and the looting of security facilities during clashes. A community leader added that firearms have become embedded in everyday life as tools of protection and control, turning disputes over grazing land into deadly confrontations. In some cases, herder groups now possess firepower comparable to that of formal security forces. The situation has been further destabilized by recent fighting in neighboring Blue Nile State, the leader added. Sennar’s historical disputes between herders and farmers over land have also taken on a more dangerous edge. Clashes that were once only involving traditional and light weapons are now increasingly marked by the use of automatic firearms, according to the government source. Vast areas such as the Dinder park are difficult to police due to their size and terrain, the source said. The widespread presence of unregulated weapons has made routine patrols and conservation work increasingly dangerous. Restoring security, the source added, will require coordinated disarmament efforts, clearer regulation of grazing routes and mechanisms to address recurring disputes between herders and farmers. *** Subscribe to our Lens on Sudan newsletter here . The post Sudan Nashra: Democratic Bloc convention fails to resolve divisive issues, participants say | RSF abuses in Tina villages trigger new displacement wave | Tawila-bound aid truck struck, shipment destroyed | RSF seizes Blue Nile’s Keili, pushes north first appeared on Mada Masr .