Rival Faction Seizes Kauda, SPLM-N (al-Hilu) Stronghold in Nuba Mountains

A rival armed faction drawn from the Otoro ethnic group seized large parts of Kauda, the main stronghold of Abdel Aziz al-Hilu's SPLM-N faction in South Kordofan, on June 22, 2026, following a Shawaya-Otoro tribal border dispute that al-Hilu's leadership had approved but Otoro leaders rejected. The dissident group expelled the local SPLM-N administration and burned the homes of officials, including SPLM-N Secretary Amar Amum Daldoum and the Alternate Governor of the Nuba Mountains; churches and aid-organization offices were also damaged. South Sudanese-led mediation efforts to resolve the dispute failed. The internal fracture within SPLM-N (al-Hilu) — one of the RSF's Kordofan-front allies — marks a significant complication for the RSF-SPLM-N alliance in the Nuba Mountains theater.