South Sudan Orders Closure of Egyptian Military Base at Pagak; SAF Recaptures Al-Kayli

South Sudan ordered the closure of an Egyptian military base in the Jute/Pagak area of Upper Nile State, situated near the Ethiopian border. The base had been strategically positioned to monitor the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and Blue Nile tributary activity. Neither Cairo nor Juba officially confirmed the order, but multiple regional analysts interpreted it as a signal of South Sudan tilting toward Addis Ababa in the Egypt-Ethiopia-Sudan triangular dynamics. On the same day, Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) — backed by Egyptian logistical and operational support — recaptured the town of Al-Kayli (Al-Keili) in Blue Nile State, a tactical gain in the ongoing civil war. The Pagak base closure represents a setback for Egypt's regional intelligence posture just as its battlefield exposure in Sudan reaches new depths.