Sudan’s oil-rich Kordofan region has turned into a major front line in the war between the army and rival paramilitary forces, as both sides try to gain the upper-hand in a conflict that has devastated the vast African state for more than two years. Attacks that killed hundreds of civilians earlier this month have shifted attention to the battle for this part of the country. “Whoever controls Kordofan effectively controls the country’s oil supply, as well as a huge chunk of Sudan,” Amir Amin, an analyst with risk consultancy Oasis Policy Advisory, told the BBC. The region is also vital for landlocked South Sudan, as its oil flows through pipelines in Kordofan, before being exported. So, it has a vested interest in Kordofan’s stability. However, the battle for the region – which is made up three states, with a population of close to eight million – has intensified since June, when the army focused on regaining the territory from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) after it made significant gains in the preceding three months, recapturing the capital, Khartoum, and neighbouring Gezira state, the agricultural hub of Sudan. Sudan’s military leader Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan flew into Khartoum’s main airport on 20 July, his second visit to the city since his troops drove out RSF fighters in March. Gen Burhan remains based in the eastern city of Port Sudan, suggesting that he is still not confident to return permanently to Khartoum, now a burnt-out wreck.

Full report : Sudan’s oil rich Kordofan region becomes the latest front line in the civil war.