SAF Declares White Nile State Fully Cleared of RSF — Strategic Milestone as RSF Remnants Retreat to Bara

Sudan's Armed Forces announced that White Nile State has been fully cleared of Rapid Support Forces presence, with RSF remnants regrouping in Bara, North Kordofan, following their expulsion from the last positions they held in the state. White Nile State — which runs south of Khartoum along the White Nile river, encompassing cities including Rabak (state capital), Kosti, and Kenana — had been a repeated target of RSF drone strikes throughout April and early May 2026, including the April 3 dual strikes on Al-Jabalain Hospital (10 killed, 7 medical staff), the April 29 attack on SAF's 18th Infantry Division HQ in Kosti, and the May 3 and May 5 strikes on Kenana fuel and industrial facilities. However, SAF maintained ground control of White Nile State throughout the conflict; the clearance announcement indicates SAF has now expelled or neutralized remaining RSF ground elements and irregular units operating in the state's rural areas. The strategic significance is substantial: White Nile State connects Khartoum to South Kordofan and Blue Nile State, providing SAF's primary logistical corridor southward. With White Nile State cleared, SAF's supply lines to the Kordofan and Blue Nile fronts are secured. RSF forces reportedly retreating to Bara in North Kordofan join a larger RSF reconsolidation effort there; Bara has been a contested hub in North Kordofan throughout 2025–2026, but RSF control of the town is increasingly precarious given SAF's multi-front pressure. The clearance announcement came the same week as the SAF Security Council commendation of gains in South Kordofan, Blue Nile, and Darfur, and within days of the Treaty of Jeddah humanitarian framework signing (May 20), reinforcing SAF's political-military posture that total victory is achievable without the need for a comprehensive ceasefire.