Sudan’s head of the Sovereignty Council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has visited frontline positions in North Kordofan after government troops recaptured key areas from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

He was accompanied by Darfur Governor Minni Minnawi, North Kordofan Governor Abdel Khalik Abdel Latif, and the commander of the Sudan Shield Forces, the army reported on Monday. Al-Burhan inspected troops in the Umm Sayala and Jabra al-Sheikh areas, where he was greeted by soldiers after arriving by helicopter.

The visit came as the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) continue operations against the RSF.

Jabra al-Sheikh is considered a strategically important town on Sudan’s export route, linking North Kordofan with the capital, Khartoum, and located close to El Obeid, the state capital. According to the Sudan Tribune, military sources said the town had served as one of the RSF’s main strongholds in the region after the group’s withdrawal from Khartoum.

The same sources said the RSF had used Jabra al-Sheikh as a launch point for military operations across North Kordofan and as a key position for threatening supply lines and roads leading to Omdurman and El Obeid. 

According to the Sudan Tribune, RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti, responded to recent battlefield losses by granting field commanders greater operational independence. In remarks on Monday, he said they would be free to initiate attacks without waiting for instructions from the group’s leadership. He also imposed a ban on filming military operations, saying anyone who breached the order would be considered an enemy collaborator.

Separately, Health Minister Haitham Mohamed Ibrahim said on Sunday that the country’s healthcare services had recovered to 75% of normal capacity. He noted that medicine supplies remained stable, several pharmaceutical companies had resumed operations, and the country’s health sector was gradually recovering.