SAF Claims Full Control of Omdurman–El Obeid Export Road as RSF Retreats

The Sudanese army announced August 1, 2026 that it had secured full control of the Export Road corridor between Omdurman and El Obeid, following the Um Qirfa operation. Military sources said RSF forces collapsed and fled the area rapidly — one officer described finding morning tea still brewing over abandoned campfires — and that the operation, planned since February, relied on a coordinated assault across all RSF positions under total secrecy. RSF units retreated west of Bara toward Al-Mazroub and Um Badr, and to Sodari in the far north and northwest of North Kordofan. The corridor's reopening is intended to cut RSF reinforcement lines between Darfur and central Sudan and ease the siege on El Obeid, though the RSF retains substantial strategic depth via Darfur, Libyan supply corridors, and gold revenue that is expected to fuel continued fighting in the coming weeks.