Despite the glimmer of hope sparked by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) recapture of Singa, the capital of Sinnar State bordering the Blue Nile region, and the reopening of the national highway, allowing for the flow of food and fuel, the spectre of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) still looms over the region.
This is particularly alarming given RSF’s alliance with General Joseph Tuka’s forces, affiliated to the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-M/al-Hillo), in South Sudan and their establishment of recruitment camps in his areas of control.
According to local sources from western Blue Nile, RSF units continue to operate in the Melkan and Foj areas along the Sudan-South Sudan border
In addition to security breakdowns, these developments have deepened the fear gripping both residents and displaced populations.
According to local sources from western Blue Nile, RSF units continue to operate in the Melkan and Foj areas along the Sudan-South Sudan border.
Since November 2023, the region’s southwest has become a battlefield between the RSF and the SAS. The clashes have escalated, with control of key towns shifting back and forth, leaving conflicting narratives about who holds the upper hand. The ongoing turmoil has led to the displacement of hundreds of thousands and a catastrophic humanitarian situation.
Western Blue Nile has seen intensifying battles, beginning with RSF incursions into Jireiwa, Roro, and Guli, culminating in the strategic seizure of Bout in Al-Tadamun locality on December 8, 2024. Control over these areas alternated between the SAF and RSF until, on March 5, the SAF’s Fourth Infantry Division announced the takeover of Bout, Guli, Jireiwa, and Roro from RSF control.
Local sources indicate that RSF forces have since withdrawn to Oulu and Foj, areas previously under the control of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (Agar faction), which is allied with the Sudanese army. Currently, SPLM-N forces are stationed in Ad-Damazin. These areas lie along the Sudan-South Sudan border near Maban, a region under South Sudan’s jurisdiction.
A Failed Agricultural Season
This crisis prompted large-scale farmers, companies, and their machinery to flee to South Sudan to escape RSF brutality
In August 2024, when RSF forces first overran Al-Tadamun locality in Blue Nile and seized control, its inhabitants were forced into displacement, seeking refuge in six sheltering houses in Ad-Damazin: Jandil School, the Railway Complex School, Riyadh School, Al-Qadisiyah, Banut neighbourhood centre, and the Agricultural Research Centre.
This crisis prompted large-scale farmers, companies, and their machinery to flee to South Sudan to escape RSF brutality. Some local farmers, however, made desperate attempts to continue farming, as agriculture was their sole livelihood.
At the start of the 2024-2025 farming season, Ali Suleiman Benso, a farmer from Agadi and Qurban in the western region, had already completed over 60 per cent of his preparations, securing fuel, labour loans, and preparing the land. He had even begun planting, only to have his hopes dashed when RSF took control of Singa and cut off the national highway.
“Because of the threats, most farmers fled to South Sudan through Renk to save their equipment and assets,” Benso told Atar.
“We couldn’t cultivate large areas due to the constant danger from RSF. Many kanabi (localized plural of camp) were looted, some even destroyed, fuel and spare parts were stolen, and the few plots we managed to cultivate were harvested by others,” he said, adding:
“We suffered massive losses, our trailers and tractors were taken. We lost an entire agricultural season due to the war, posing a severe threat to food security in the region.”
Given the persistent threats, many farmers opted to flee to South Sudan, Uganda, and safer Sudanese cities like Al-Gadarif, Kassala, and those in River Nile State in search of security.
The locality of Al-Tadamun, or the western region, lies west of Ad-Damazin, the capital of Blue Nile State. It stretches from Agadi’s borders to South Sudan. It is home to a diverse mix of tribes, including the Funj, Angassana, Rufaa, Nuba, Shilluk, Nuer, and Maban, among others.
The region once hosted major agricultural projects, such as the Saudi Project and the Green Valley Project, which contributed to Sudan’s strategic crop reserves. These projects were halted during the rule of the Al-Bashir regime but saw a revival with investments from the Arab Aghadi Company, Al-Muzdana Company, and a Brazilian firm, leading to the production of sorghum, sesame, sunflower, cotton, guar, and peanuts. The region attracted farmers from across Sudan.
The siege of Blue Nile
Following the RSF takeover of Singa and large parts of Sinnar State, Blue Nile came under a near-total siege, particularly with the severing of the national highway, the only paved road connecting the region to the rest of Sudan.
For five months, Ad-Damazin endured complete isolation.
“The economic and health situation deteriorated catastrophically, not just in the city, but in the entire region, especially after RSF took control of border areas with Sinnar,” Ghazi Jabir, a market vendor in Ad-Damazin, told Atar.
The siege not only cut off the main highway but also rendered alternative routes impassable due to heavy rainfall.
“We had no choice but to head west to South Sudan or south to Ethiopia,” Jabir said.
During the siege, some goods trickled in from Ethiopia and Al-Gadarif loaded on tractors via Umm Buqara, but supplies were far from sufficient.
Ethiopian gasoline sold for 80,000 Sudanese pounds per gallon, while Sudanese fuel cost 100,000 on the black market. Essential goods vanished, and those available were sold in secrecy at exorbitant prices, a can of tomato paste soared to 20,000 pounds. Public transportation ground to a halt.
Jabir witnessed firsthand how RSF’s siege devastated living conditions. Before the siege, beef cost 6000 pounds per kilo, lamb 8000. After the siege, prices surged to 14,000–16000 pounds for beef and 20,000 for lamb. Onion prices skyrocketed, with a sack peaking at 1.1 million pounds before dropping to 550,000 after the reopening of the Singa road. Food prices also fluctuated depending on payment methods, cash transactions were cheaper than digital transfers via the Bankak app. Sugar prices hit 15000 pounds per kilo.
currency replacement policy has severely impacted the prices of essential goods, leading to noticeable price differences between cash transactions and purchases via the Bankak app
Vegetables, once transported from Sinnar, Al-Jazirah, and eastern rural areas, disappeared. “Luckily, sweet potatoes remained available and became the staple diet, alongside maize,” Jabir noted.
During the siege, the residents of the region clung to any glimmer of hope, adapting to the dire situation by substituting their usual food supplies with whatever was available. Sweets, peanuts, and bananas became alternatives to sugar in tea. Even meat, which used to be brought from the western region, saw a price surge after the RSF took control of parts of it.
Although the siege was lifted following the army’s recapture of Sinnar from the RSF, residents of Blue Nile State continue to suffer from high prices. The implementation of the currency replacement policy has severely impacted the prices of essential goods, leading to noticeable price differences between cash transactions and purchases via the Bankak app.
Traders operating outside urban centres, such as livestock, crop, and gum Arabic merchants, prefer cash, causing widespread fear and anxiety among the population.
Recently, communication and Internet networks in the region have seen relative stability.
Additionally, the availability of “Starlink” has helped cover, to some extent, the needs of citizens for transactions during network outages.
Initiatives for Survival
Since the outbreak of war, Blue Nile has received wave after wave of displaced persons fleeing RSF atrocities. The largest influx followed the fall of Wad Madani and Singa, pushing schools, clubs, and sports fields to their limits as overcrowded sheltering houses.
Volunteer-run communal kitchens, such as the Shabab Al-Zuhur Neighborhood Kitchen, played a pivotal role in feeding displaced people
In an earlier statement, Arafat Al-Sadiq, the Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid in Blue Nile, said more than 100,000 displaced people, mostly women, children, and the elderly, arrived in Ad-Damazin under dire humanitarian conditions, seeking refuge in sheltering houses.
Yet even in the depths of despair, community-led initiatives provided a glimmer of hope. Volunteer-run communal kitchens, such as the Shabab Al-Zuhur Neighborhood Kitchen, played a pivotal role in feeding displaced people across Ad-Damazin’s southern districts. Despite dwindling resources, these grassroots efforts continued to sustain those in need.
In addition to providing meals, the kitchen also helped meet non-food needs.
Likewise, the Youth Kitchen of the Northern and Central Sectors played a vital role in assisting displaced people across all sheltering houses in the central and northern areas.
In an interview with Atar, Musab Rizg-Allah, a journalist and human rights advocate from the Blue Nile region, said the situation worsened during the communication blackout, as it severed a crucial link for coordinating and following up on family support.
However, he emphasized that the biggest challenge was public health due to the dire economic, nutritional, and healthcare conditions.
Amidst this crisis, accusations emerged that some residents of the western region had joined the RSF. These allegations were refuted by Adham Saif Al-Dawla, a son of the late chief (Nazir) of the western region, in his statement to Atar.
“We managed to keep our area out of the war’s devastation for a long time and made every effort to preserve social cohesion. However, with the recent attack, the conflict has taken a tribal dimension, and the entire Rufaa tribe has been accused of collaborating with the RSF. We have worked tirelessly to correct this perception, making it clear that the conflict is not with the entire tribe. We engaged with Rufaa elders and communities, emphasizing the importance of stability and collective interest. As a result, we successfully convinced some of them to return to Guli, the hometown and administrative centre of the late chief. However, the RSF’s incursion into Roro and Jireiwa prevented us from reaching those communities to facilitate a similar dialogue,” Adham said.
