Sudanese Army Takes Control of Khartoum Airport as Troops Encircle Jebel Awliya

The Sudanese army took control of Khartoum airport, according to a military source, as troops encircled Jebel Awliya, described as the last major RSF stronghold in the Khartoum region.

“Press review of March 26, 2026 Photo: AFP Sign up for the press review Two drone strikes in Sudan, one on a market in Darfur and the other along a road in North Kordofan, killed at least 28 civilians, adding to a toll of drone attacks that has already surpassed 500 victims this year”

Africa Center for Strategic Studies

The army launched a cleansing operation aimed at driving the paramilitary forces out of Khartoum after retaking the presidential palace on Friday, and RSF fighters were positioned inside the airport since the start of the war.

Africa Defense Forum

The army also secured both sides of the Manshiya Bridge over the Blue Nile in Khartoum on Wednesday, leaving the RSF with only the Jebel Awliya Bridge to retreat from the area.

In nearly two years of fighting, the sources say tens of thousands have been killed and more than 12 million Sudanese displaced, as a major humanitarian crisis has unfolded.

In Sudan’s Blue Nile region on the border with Ethiopia, the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and their allies have fought since March 22, with the RSF advancing toward the strategic town of Kurmuk.

RFI reported that the RSF, supported by the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement–North (SPLM-N) led by Abdul Aziz al-Hilu, said it had retaken Kurmuk on March 24, and that the RSF carried out a joint force attack that succeeded in taking three zones in the locality of Jurt near Kurmuk.

Akhbar al-Sudan

Africa Center for Strategic Studies said a drone strike on a market in Saraf Omra in North Darfur State killed 22 people, including a baby, and injured 17 others, while another drone strike along a road in North Kordofan set a truck on fire.

The same press review said the RSF announced on March 24 that they had captured the town of al-Kurmuk in Blue Nile State, and that the Sudanese army withdrew to its rear base in Damazin, capital of Blue Nile.

Le Grand Continent described how the civil war has turned into a regional war, saying Washington announced in early February forthcoming negotiations between the two belligerents under the auspices of the United States, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

The same source said the conflict, triggered on April 15, 2023, has lasted for nearly three years without remission, and that the fiercest fighting is taking place in the north and south of Kordofan as well as in the Blue Nile region bordering Ethiopia.

It also said that on February 3, U.S. Special Envoy Massad Boulos stated he had secured nearly $1.5 billion in donor pledges for Sudan and defined a consensual mediation process within the Quad.

Al-Jazeera Net reported that the Sudanese army announced control of two strategic areas in Blue Nile state—Maqja and Surkum—after battles with the RSF and the SPLM-N, and said Surkum “paves the way for the army to advance toward the town of Kurmuk near the Ethiopian border.”