Army holds Bakori, Sali as Blue Nile attacks are repelled – 4th Infantry Division

The Sudanese Armed Forces have announced that they repelled fresh attacks by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the allied Sudan People’s Liberation Movement–North (SPLM-N) in South-Eastern Blue Nile State, inflicting “heavy losses in personnel and equipment.”
  
According to information from the Embassy of the Republic of the Sudan, Abuja, the 4th Infantry Division said its troops and supporting forces prevented the attackers from breaching their positions at Bakori, Geissan locality, and at Sali in Kurmuk locality. The statement did not give casualty figures.
  
The division’s commander, Major General Ismail al-Tayeb Hussein, said his forces “will continue protecting areas of Blue Nile and conducting military operations against the RSF and its allies”, a pledge that reflects the army’s stated determination to secure the state and its people.
  
Bakori, about 70 kilometres South-East of Ed Damazin, the State Capital, hosts a base of the army’s 13th Infantry Brigade, part of the 4th Infantry Division.
 
Sudanese authorities announced on October 22 that the army had recaptured the strategic Bakori area after battles with the two groups, and Monday’s statement indicates that the position remains in army hands.
  
Sali lies about 25 kilometres north of Kurmuk, near the Ethiopian border. Government forces say they repelled several attacks in October. On October 20, the 4th Infantry Division reported that it had stopped another attempt to breach its positions in the area and said it had seized 15 combat vehicles and destroyed five others, according to the army’s statement at the time.
  
Blue Nile, which borders Ethiopia and South Sudan, carries considerable military and geographic importance. The recent fighting follows an escalation in the state in recent weeks, with repeated attacks by the RSF and the SPLM-N on several areas, and the army has said it is reinforcing its positions across several fronts.
  
Away from the front line, the army’s defence of its positions comes as the RSF continues to target civilian infrastructure with drones.
  
A Sudanese government official told AFP that RSF drones struck five power stations on October 26, cutting electricity across much of Al-Jazira, Gedaref and White Nile States, which are under army control, and the United Nations has warned that such attacks endanger health care and essential services for millions of people.
  
The war, which began in April 2023, has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions. Against that background, the army’s said that priority in Blue Nile is to hold the ground it has regained, protect the communities behind its lines, and deny the attackers any breakthrough.