Sudan Security and Defence Council Commends SAF Gains in South Kordofan, Blue Nile, and Darfur — Orders Crackdown on Armed Presence in Cities

Sudan's Security and Defence Council formally commended the Sudanese Armed Forces for gains achieved across multiple fronts — South Kordofan (Dilling siege break, Kordofan corridor advances), Blue Nile (Khor Hassan recapture May 16, Muqja station recapture April 21), and Darfur (Wadi al-Atrun capture May 19, sustained Nyala aerial campaign) — in an official statement released around May 20, 2026. The Council simultaneously ordered a crackdown on armed presence in cities, a directive aimed at RSF remnants and armed auxiliaries in areas recently liberated by SAF but also reflecting concern about armed non-state actors operating in SAF-held territories. The commendation represents the SAF government's formal acknowledgment that its May 2026 multi-front offensive is achieving strategic results, consolidating earlier momentum. The Council's statement is significant because it comes immediately after al-Burhan's May 18 RSF derecognition order and May 19 TSC restructuring — together these actions form a coherent package: legal delegitimization of the RSF coupled with military endorsement of total victory as the operational objective. The directive on armed city presence is consistent with the SAF government's broader project of restoring civilian authority in recovered territories, though human rights organizations have noted that crackdowns on 'armed presence' have sometimes targeted civilian self-defense groups and informal protection forces rather than exclusively RSF-linked actors.