Around 27 Killed, Including Children, in SPLM‑N Attacks on Kadugli, Abu Hitan

Around 27 people, including four children, were killed in attacks attributed to Sudan People’s Liberation Movement–North (SPLM‑N) militants in the South Kordofan towns of Kadugli and Abu Hitan on Saturday, local officials said. The assaults, which targeted civilian neighborhoods, marked one of the deadliest incidents in the region in recent months and prompted an urgent response from the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), which dispatched additional troops to the affected areas and announced a crackdown on what it described as “terrorist” activity.

The SPLM‑N, a political and armed group that has operated primarily in Sudan’s Blue Blue Nile and South Kordofan states, traces its origins to the split that followed South Sudan’s independence in 2011. When the southern secession left the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) and its army on the opposite side of the border, the remnants that remained in Sudan reorganised as the SPLM‑N and its armed wing, the Sudan People’s Liberation Army‑North (SPLA‑N). The group has since become a key actor in Sudan’s protracted internal conflict, alternating between negotiations with the central government and armed confrontations.

In 2017 the SPLA‑N fractured into two rival factions: the al‑Hilu faction, which has pursued an agenda of establishing a self‑declared “New Sudan” in the south and continues to fight the SAF; and the Agar faction, which entered a power‑sharing arrangement with the military‑run transitional government and has been deployed against the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group that broke away from the Janjaweed militia. The rivalry between the two factions, compounded by their separate battles with the SAF and the RSF, has deepened the fragmentation of Sudan’s security landscape and created a volatile environment in which civilian populations are increasingly caught in the crossfire.

The latest killings occurred in Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan, and the nearby village of Abu Hitan, both of which have long been contested zones where SPLM‑N fighters, SAF units, and RSF militias vie for control. While the al‑Hilu faction claims to be defending the rights of marginalized communities in the region, the Agar faction, now aligned with the government, has been accused of using heavy‑handed tactics that exacerbate civilian suffering. Human rights organisations have repeatedly warned that the multiplicity of armed actors makes it difficult to hold any single party accountable for atrocities, a reality underscored by the recent loss of life among non‑combatants, including children.

The incident also highlights the broader challenges facing Sudan’s fragile transition after the ouster of former President Omar al‑Bashir in 2019. A power vacuum left by the collapse of central authority has allowed a patchwork of militias and political movements to assert territorial control, often with external support. The SPLM‑N’s continued insurgency, particularly the al‑Hilu faction’s insistence on a separate political arrangement, undermines ongoing peace talks and threatens to derail the tentative ceasefires that have been brokered between the SAF and the RSF. The government’s promise of a “comprehensive security operation” in South Kordofan raises concerns about further civilian displacement and the potential for a wider humanitarian crisis.

Although the violence occurs far from Taiwan, its repercussions reverberate across the wider Red Sea corridor, a critical artery for global trade, including the shipment of oil and the movement of goods that underpin many supply chains. Instability in Sudan can disrupt maritime traffic through the Bab el‑Mandeb strait, affect regional energy markets, and prompt an influx of refugees into neighboring countries, straining humanitarian resources. Moreover, the protracted conflict draws attention from international powers seeking to influence Sudan’s political future, a dynamic that could affect diplomatic alignments in the Horn of Africa and beyond. For Taiwan, which monitors security developments that could impact global trade routes and regional stability, the escalation in South Kordofan serves as a reminder of how localized conflicts can have far‑reaching economic and geopolitical implications.