Has the army turned the page on control of western Sudan? 

Khartoum, Sudan – A Sudanese army-led counteroffensive in the western region of Darfur has led to a series of gains for government-aligned forces over the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group in recent days.

In early August, Sudan’s military and allied groups repelled two successive attacks by the RSF in the strategically important Bir Saliba region. It lies about 30km (nearly 20 miles) north of el-Geneina, the capital of West Darfur state, and is the last stronghold of the RSF in the region.

Government-backed forces have tried to put pressure on RSF supply lines by seizing control of crossings and desert routes along the border with Chad. This signifies a possible shift in fighting towards el-Geneina.

Leading to el-Geneina, the Bir Saliba region is of strategic importance. It has a network of roads that link the state capital with areas in the northwest of the region, particularly Jebel Moon and Kulbus, according to General Bahr al-Din Adam Karama, the governor of West Darfur state.

Attempt to encircle Bir Saliba

Darfur Regional Governor Minni Arko Minnawi announced that Major General Mahdi Adam, known as “Jebel Moon” and one of the RSF’s most prominent field commanders, was killed in fighting in western Sudan. The RSF has not officially confirmed his death, but if true it would represent a significant loss for the paramilitary group and leave a leadership gap along this key western front.

Minnawi said the Joint Force of the Armed Struggle Movements, a coalition of former Darfur rebel groups that signed the 2020 Juba Peace Agreement and now fights alongside the Sudanese army against the RSF, also thwarted an attempt by the RSF to encircle Bir Saliba. One RSF force advanced from north of Kulbus while another moved from the direction of Sileia in the Jebel Moon area before launching a large-scale attack on the Joint Force.

“[The RSF] bet on the element of surprise to break through the Joint Force’s defences, but they received another lesson,” Minnawi said.

Battlefield gains

Major Mutawakkil Ali Wakil Abu-Ja, the Joint Force’s spokesman, told Al Jazeera that the Sudanese military destroyed more than 38 combat vehicles and seized 27 others in the campaign.

The commander of the RSF in the sector was also killed, he said, with fighters fleeing the battlefield and leaving their dead comrades behind.

Abu-Ja said efforts are being made to take the western part of the region and increase pressure on the RSF before what he described as a decisive battle for el-Geneina.

Air strikes on a convoy travelling near the border with Chad have further isolated the RSF and struck a key supply route for the paramilitary group, Major General Othman Siraj said.

Pressure on multiple fronts by the army was preventing the RSF from regrouping its forces and paving the way for what he believes will be the final battle for el-Geneina.

Fadel Kaya, a leader and adviser with the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army – Transitional Council (SLM/TC), a Darfur rebel faction that split from the original Sudan Liberation Movement and signed the 2020 Juba Peace Agreement, told Al Jazeera that the Joint Force’s victories in West Darfur indicated that the RSF had shifted away from trying to gain territory to retreating from key positions.

Drone warfare

In North Kordofan state in central Sudan, the RSF had turned to drones to compensate for the loss of the strategic route linking Omdurman and el-Obeid. This had served as a major supply artery for the RSF before the army recaptured it on July 27.

Amin Ishaq Zakaria, a SLM/TC spokesman, told Al Jazeera that the RSF’s increased use of drones reflected “a predicament on the ground and an inability to engage in direct confrontations after losing vital positions”.

Sudanese armed forces had seized a number of attack drones along the Jabra al-Sheikh axis during the counteroffensive, he added.

The International Organization for Migration reported on Saturday that the recent escalation in fighting has seen more than 6,650 people from 11 villages in the Sirba region displaced.

More than 13 million people had already been displaced since the war between the military and RSF began in April 2023, according to United Nations estimates.

The RSF and its allies have also established a rival administration, known as the Tasis government, in opposition to the Sudanese government based in Port Sudan.

Al Jazeera reached out to the RSF and Tasis government about the fighting in the Bir Saliba area but received no response by the time the report was published.