Sudan Nashra: Nyala healthcare workers on strike | Burhan abolishes deputy, assistant commander-in-chief positions | Sudanese military intelligence head in high-level talks with Tripoli’s chief of staff | Military operation to retake Blue Nile’s Kurmuk underway

Subscribe to our Lens on Sudan newsletter here . A series of announcements this week has fleshed out the April 2 decision by Transitional Sovereignty Council Chair and military Commander-in-Chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan to reshuffle the Sudanese military’s high command. The most consequential change was the appointment of Yasser al-Atta — the military’s leading hardliner and top advocate for a military resolution to the war — as chief of staff, which was announced last week. Subsequent announcements on Monday saw Burhan abolish the roles of deputy and assistant commander-in-chief. Their former holders, Shams Eddin Kabbashi and Ibrahim Gaber, both TSC members, have been reassigned within the command hierarchy. During the chief of staff handover ceremony, Burhan stressed that the military’s authority has always rested with the “commander-in-chief, followed by the chief of staff. And we don’t have other posts.” A former General Staff source said those now-abolished positions had created a hybrid political-military leadership structure, due to their holders’ dual roles within the TSC, granting them broad influence. Their removal, he said, signals a scaling back of that model. The reshuffle is also calibrated to advance battlefield priorities. Atta’s two-decade operational background in the south and southeast, combined with the redistribution of posts, indicates a pivot toward the southeastern Blue Nile front, where the war’s center of gravity has increasingly shifted. But a former military source noted that both the military and the Rapid Support Forces face significant operational challenges in the region. Its vast terrain and dispersed population complicate deployment and strain supply lines. While the military is focused on holding its lines and securing the state capital, Damazin, the RSF has to contend with tribal dynamics that complicate their mobilization and advance efforts. After losing the strategic city of Kurmuk near the Ethiopian and South Sudanese borders in late March, the military is now attempting to reclaim it, securing a limited advance this week by capturing a northern defensive position. Another former military source told Mada Masr that the RSF has shifted pressure away from the Kordofan front to the logistically significant Blue Nile, leaving frontlines in South Kordofan in a state of relative stalemate with no major breakthroughs. This week, the RSF attempted yet another push into South Kordofan’s Dalang that the military managed to repel. Both sides continue to build up forces. While it is not clear yet what action Khartoum is planning concerning the RSF’s use of Ethiopian territories for its operations in Blue Nile, Sudanese military intelligence chief Mohamed Sabir traveled to Tripoli on Sunday to meet with Libya’s Government of National Unity Chief of Staff Salah Eddin al-Namroush to discuss shared border security concerns. According to a Sudanese senior military source, the high-level talks focused on enhancing intelligence-sharing to track convoy routes across southeastern Libya, a critical artery for Emirati-supplied military equipment bound for the RSF. *** Healthcare workers strike in Nyala The Turkish-Sudanese Hospital in Nyala, South Darfur. Courtesy: TRT Arabic. A series of protests by medical workers has unfolded in recent days in South Darfur’s Nyala, amid acute supply shortages, persistent military strikes jeopardizing hospitals, and what a former official described as an administrative vacuum that left healthcare facilities subject to resource misuse. According to three medical sources speaking to Mada Masr, at least four healthcare worker strikes have taken place between late March and early April. By inflicting casualties and disrupting safe access, repeated military attacks have placed growing pressure on Nyala’s healthcare system, which, already weakened by severe supply shortages, has at times been forced to scale back services, one of the sources said. The city’s position as a central RSF logistical and weapons supply hub and the seat of the Tasis-led parallel government has made it a constant target of the military’s airstrikes. Last week, drone attacks pummeled Nyala over three consecutive days, targeting RSF weapons and ammunition depots at the Nyala International Airport and a Tasis member’s home. Doctors Without Borders issued a statement condemning the strikes, noting that some landed close to the Nyala Teaching Hospital. According to the medical source, some departments at the hospital were forced to shut down in the strikes’ aftermath. Just a week before, a direct hit by military drones on East Darfur’s Daein Teaching Hospital killed dozens, including patients and medical staff. Alongside the ever-present threat of military airstrikes, hospitals are grappling with acute shortages of equipment and medicines, forcing staff at times to limit medical care to emergency cases or reduce working hours, a staff member of Nyala’s Turkish-Sudanese Hospital said. According to the source, much of the medical supplies are now only available on the black market, a trade largely controlled by RSF officers or relatives of influential figures within the paramilitary group. The strain on supplies has been further exacerbated by the RSF’s increasing use of civilian facilities to treat its wounded, according to three Nyala residents, diverting already scarce resources to combat purposes and further narrowing access for civilians. According to the first medical source, some RSF soldiers and officers harass medical staff into prioritizing their civilian relatives or acquaintances over other patients. And in cases where supplies are insufficient for treatment, as has become common, they are met with physical attacks, the source said. With no intervention from the RSF-led civilian administration in South Darfur, and no guarantees to improve conditions or ensure minimum operational requirements, Nyala’s healthcare workers have turned to strikes as a form of pressure, the source at the Turkish-Sudanese hospital said. According to a former official in South Darfur’s civilian administration, healthcare workers’ strikes are a symptom of an “administrative vacuum” where no governing body is capable of coordinating services or even enforcing minimal institutional discipline. A current official echoed this, saying the lack of institutional support, be it in funding, supervision or planning, has left health facilities operating in isolation, no longer part of an integrated service system. An RSF security source told Mada Masr that the group is attempting to exert greater control over the health sector in an effort to curb what they described as service irregularities and drug theft within medical institutions. According to a local source who spoke to Mada Masr on condition of anonymity, Turkish-Sudanese Hospital Director Al-Rashid Abdallah is under investigation over allegations of mismanagement of medicines and medical supplies. Speaking to Mada Masr, a relative of Abdallah denied his involvement in theft and attributed the case to disputes with RSF officers. *** Sudanese military intelligence head in high-level talks with Tripoli’s chief of staff Sudan’s director of military intelligence, Mohamed Ali Sabir, and Libya’s Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Abdel Hamid Dbeibeh shake hands in Tripoli, April 6. Courtesy: Government of National Unity on Facebook. A high-level meeting in Tripoli on Sunday brought together Sudan’s director of military intelligence, Mohamed Ali Sabir, and Salah Eddin al-Namroush, chief of staff of the Libyan Government of National Unity’s forces. According to a senior Sudanese military source, discussions focused on enhancing intelligence-sharing to track convoy routes across southeastern Libya, a critical artery for Emirati-supplied military equipment bound for the RSF. The talks also covered potential cooperation in training, particularly in reconnaissance, surveillance and desert operations. In a statement on Sunday, the Libyan General Staff said the meeting with Sabir and his delegation was aimed at “strengthening military and security cooperation between the two brotherly countries,” adding that it explored mechanisms to advance information exchange and security coordination to address shared challenges. According to the senior source and a former military source, the meeting is part of a broader strategic shift within Sudan’s military command, now led by Chief-of-Staff Yasser al-Atta, the former assistant commander-in-chief who was appointed to the position last week by Commander-in-Chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan alongside new deputies for operations and logistics. Since early 2026, Sudan’s military leadership has moved toward a more integrated border control strategy, combining regional coordination with expanded aerial surveillance to disrupt RSF supply lines, according to the former military source. This includes opening lines of communication with neighboring countries while strengthening surveillance capabilities along desert transit routes, they said. The former military source noted that Atta’s experience in complex operational environments has shaped this strategy. During the Second Sudanese Civil War, he played a role in efforts to sever supply chains and control key corridors — efforts that gradually shifted the balance of power, according to the source. A comparable approach now appears to be taking shape, albeit across a wider geographic scope, they said. A military source in eastern Sudan stressed that the eastern axis also figures in the calculations, particularly along the Ethiopian border. This comes in the wake of the RSF’s capture of Kurmuk in Blue Nile State on March 24 — a strategic city along key routes linking Sudan to the Horn of Africa. The military is preparing measures to curb supplies entering from Ethiopia, though the source did not disclose whether outreach similar to that seen in Tripoli is under consideration. *** South Kordofan’s Dalang battles continue, RSF pushes to seize a key defensive position to the east https://www.madamasr.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/متحرك-مسك-الختام-فك-حصار-الدلنج-للمرة-الثانية_HD.mp4 A man aboard a military vehicle moving through Dalang in South Kordofan announces that the siege has been broken, April 6. Courtesy: @Sport6780 on Telegram. After a failed major offensive last week , the RSF launched a renewed multi-front attack on Monday on Dalang’s outskirts. Military forces, backed by reinforcements from North Kordofan, repelled the advance, a military source told Mada Masr. During the battles, units from the Misk al-Khetam brigades, deployed from North Kordofan’s Rahad Abu Dakna, reinforced the 54th Infantry Brigade in defending Takma, a key forward defense position and a critical eastern supply route into Dalang, according to the source. The RSF renewed its assault the following morning, briefly seizing the area and killing several military officers and soldiers before the military retook it by evening, the source said. Fighting continues on Takma’s outskirts, with ongoing artillery exchanges and drone strikes, they added. According to the source, both sides continue to mass forces and military equipment in preparation for what they said could be decisive confrontations in Dalang in the coming days. RSF continues to draw reinforcements from Lagawa and West Kordofan’s Abu Zabad, alongside mercenaries from South Sudan, who were seen participating in the clashes last week, the source added. A former military source in Obeid ’s Fifth Division described the Kordofan frontline as being in a state of relative stalemate, with the RSF no longer achieving significant breakthroughs. However, they added, logistical complications have also left the military on the defensive. The war’s center of gravity is instead shifting toward Blue Nile. According to the source, this reflects a strategic repositioning by the RSF to focus pressure on more sensitive areas in logistical and geographic terms. *** Military operation to retake Blue Nile’s Kurmuk underway Military forces are pushing toward Blue Nile’s Kurmuk in an attempt to recapture the strategic city, a field source told Mada Masr. On Monday, the military regained control of the Baraka camp, one of Kurmuk’s key northern defensive positions. The source said the advance is being slowed primarily by landmines planted by the RSF on the city’s outskirts as well as artillery positioned on Jebel al-Kurmuk . In late March, the RSF, alongside its ally, the Sudan Liberation Movement-North led by Abdel Aziz al-Hilu, advanced from Ethiopia toward Kurmuk, capturing several towns in the border locality before taking the city. At the time, an activist told Mada Masr that the fall of Kurmuk could shift the balance of power in the state, given its location along key eastern supply routes linking Sudan to the Horn of Africa. With the city under RSF control, the state capital, Damazin, faces increased risk. According to the field source, RSF fighters have largely withdrawn from the city, repositioning on its outskirts to avoid artillery and drone strikes. This has prompted caution on the military’s side, amid concerns over ambushes and flanking attacks, they said. Instead, the military is pursuing a strategy of attrition before advancing further. The activist said this week that the military is continuing to build up forces in Damazin while expanding the use of drone-jamming systems. According to a former military source, the armed forces’ current positioning in Blue Nile is primarily defensive, focusing at present on holding existing lines and securing Damazin and its immediate surroundings, while avoiding the expansion of operations into rural and border areas. The source said the recent military reshuffle and the reassignment of some field roles are intended to improve operational coordination and strengthen the military’s position on this sensitive front. The RSF, on the other hand , faces challenges tied to the region’s social composition that might limit its ability to entrench itself or expand in a sustained manner, the source added. Some farming communities in Blue Nile such as the Ingessana and the Anj oppose the influx of pastoralist groups like the Misseriya , mobilized by the RSF from the state’s peripheries, viewing the incursion as a form of targeted displacement. Meanwhile, Nuban groups have sided with the military, perceiving the RSF-SPLM-N alliance as a threat to their agricultural areas. Five residents of Kurmuk displaced after the city’s fall told Mada Masr Ethiopian militia fighters had participated in the attack, fueling fears that such groups could seek to displace local farmers and cultivate their land during the upcoming rainy season. The region’s rugged, mountainous terrain and scattered population impose additional constraints on deployment and control, making the front particularly complex in terms of operational management and maintaining supply lines, according to the former military source. *** Burhan abolishes deputy, assistant commander-in-chief positions Shams Eddin Kabbashi, now-former military deputy commander-in-chief. Courtesy: Altabia News Network. A series of announcements this week has fleshed out Burhan’s April 2 decision to reshuffle the Sudanese military’s high command. At its core was the appointment of TSC member and now-former assistant commander-in-chief Yasser al-Atta as chief of staff, announced last week. Subsequent announcements on Monday included the removal of deputy commander-in-chief Shams Eddin Kabbashi and assistant Ibrahim Gaber from their posts and the abolition of their positions. This was followed on the same day by an announcement reassigning Kabbashi, Gaber and Mirghani Idris , head of the Defense Industries System , to new roles within the command. A former General Staff source said the deputy and assistant commander-in-chief posts — introduced in May 2023 at the outset of the war — had effectively institutionalized a hybrid political-military layer of leadership. This structure granted its holders, all TSC members, broad influence, particularly in coordinating between battlefield operations and the TSC. Their abolition signals a scaling back of that hybrid model. According to the source, reassigning these figures to more specialized portfolios shifts them away from general decision-making roles into more clearly defined technical functions, while keeping them inside the command circle rather than sidelining them. Kabbashi, a central figure since 2019, emerged during the war as both a political and military voice through his dual roles. In the command shake-up, Burhan appointed him as assistant commander-in-chief for reconstruction and strategic planning, a position that keeps him within the top brass and preserves his strategic influence, but reduces his direct involvement in day-to-day operations, according to the source. Similarly, Gaber — who played a key role in logistical, economic and political files — has been reassigned as assistant commander-in-chief for international relations and military cooperation. While this appears to be a continuation of his management of external channels, it would also likely limit his domestic executive influence, the source said. Gaber previously headed a TSC committee tasked with preparing Khartoum for the return of residents and state institutions, a sensitive portfolio that overlapped with Prime Minister Kamel Idris’s mandate and led to public disputes. As for Mirghani Idris, his new position as assistant for military industries highlights an increased focus on domestic arms production, the source said. The role positions him within a technical-strategic track focused on developing local capabilities, while keeping him relatively removed from direct decision-making, despite being viewed as being close to Burhan, according to the source. The source emphasized that these changes do not strip the commanders of influence, but rather reflect a calculated redistribution of authority, one aimed at reducing overlap between political and military spheres and reinforcing the institutional character of the armed forces. Handover ceremony of the chief of staff in Khartoum, April 6. Courtesy: @Sudan_tweet on X. During the handover ceremony for the chief of staff, held at the General Command in Khartoum on Monday , Burhan praised Atta, stressing that his appointment was based on merit. Kabbashi and Gaber were absent. Burhan did not present a detailed explanation for the reshuffle, instead offering a broader account of how the military’s command structure has evolved since 2019. He argued that, under ousted President Omar al-Bashir, authority had been concentrated in the Defense Ministry despite its political nature. He said the post-2019 restructuring, which shifts from a joint command structure, where the defense minister is empowered to intervene in military decision-making, to a general staff system, reasserted the absolute authority of the commander-in-chief, which he described as a step toward insulating the military from partisan politics. Burhan justified scrapping the deputy commander-in-chief post, saying the military had not traditionally maintained the role. *** Subscribe to our Lens on Sudan newsletter here . The post Sudan Nashra: Nyala healthcare workers on strike | Burhan abolishes deputy, assistant commander-in-chief positions | Sudanese military intelligence head in high-level talks with Tripoli’s chief of staff | Military operation to retake Blue Nile’s Kurmuk underway first appeared on Mada Masr .