Sudan army retakes key route, but El-Obeid's ordeal is far from over

For the hundreds of thousands of people trapped in El-Obeid, the Sudanese army's capture of a key road this week was supposed to signal relief after months of isolation. Instead, humanitarian agencies told The New Arab that little has changed.

Aid officials warned that despite the army's announcement on Sunday that it had secured the strategic road linking El-Obeid to Omdurman, the city's humanitarian crisis remains severe, with hunger, water shortages and continued attacks leaving civilians cut off from meaningful assistance.

"Control of a road does not automatically mean meaningful humanitarian access," Shashwat Saraf, the Sudan country director for the Norwegian Refugee Council, told The New Arab. "The route must be safe and consistently passable for civilians, commercial supplies and aid convoys, with guarantees from all relevant parties."

The caution highlights the gulf between military advances and the realities facing civilians in Sudan's war, where territorial gains have repeatedly failed to translate into safer conditions or reliable aid deliveries.

A senior source at a humanitarian agency working in Sudan told The New Arab it was still "premature" to conclude that the road's capture would ease conditions inside El-Obeid.

The source pointed to the nearby city of Bara, a strategic waypoint on the El-Obeid-Omdurman road that has repeatedly changed hands between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), illustrating how fragile any military gains remain.

For residents of El-Obeid, uncertainty has become the norm. The capital of North Kordofan has endured a partial siege since early 2025, when the Sudanese army succeeded in breaking the RSF's full encirclement of the city but failed to fully reopen access.

Since then, aid agencies have repeatedly warned that El-Obeid risks following the path of El-Fasher, where civilians endured widespread atrocities, including massacres, after the RSF seized the city earlier this year.

Even now, Saraf said, daily life remains defined by deprivation rather than relief.

"Families in El-Obeid are still facing hunger, water shortages and attacks affecting essential services," he said. "What matters now is whether this development delivers a real and sustained lifeline for civilians. All parties must facilitate safe and unhindered humanitarian access."

Dan Teng'o, head of communications for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Sudan, told The New Arab that the arrival of people fleeing fighting in neighbouring South Kordofan has stretched already scarce food, healthcare, water and shelter services even further.

"Continued displacement, including of people fleeing insecurity in South Kordofan, has increased humanitarian needs while overstretching available food, health, water and shelter services."

Compounding the crisis, Teng'o said, the RSF continues to strike the Kosti-El-Obeid road with drones, disrupting what remains the city's principal humanitarian supply route.

Although the road towards Omdurman is now under army control, the Kosti corridor remains the main artery connecting El-Obeid with the rest of Sudan and the primary route for aid reaching the city's roughly 600,000 residents, including an estimated 100,000 displaced people.

The drone campaign has also hit fuel depots, water facilities and other civilian infrastructure inside El-Obeid, making it harder for humanitarian organisations to expand their operations even as needs continue to rise.

"These constraints are limiting the ability of humanitarian organisations to scale up assistance at a time when needs continue to grow, leaving vulnerable displaced families at heightened risk of food insecurity, disease and protection concerns," Teng'o added.