Reported RSF movements through Ethiopia threaten to widen Sudan’s eastern front

Rapid Support Forces fighters attacked Sudan’s Blue Nile region from Ethiopia on October 3 and seized the Kadalo mountains area, according to a military source cited by Mada Masr. The area lies near the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and the Roseires reservoir. The report estimated that roughly 2,800 people had fled ten villages by the following day.

The more consequential warning concerns a possible second route. An RSF source and another person familiar with mobilisation told the newsroom that fighters had been moved from Darfur to Addis Ababa ahead of transfers toward Sudan’s eastern border and a prospective attack on the Fashaga strip. That is reporting about preparations and expected intentions, not confirmation that the proposed attack has occurred. The Sudanese military has reinforced eastern positions.

Civilian harm is independently documented, although responsibility remains attributed to witnesses and monitoring groups. AP reported on October 7 that Emergency Lawyers blamed an RSF drone strike for killing at least four women at homes and a mosque in Damazin. The RSF did not immediately comment. AP also reported a separate attack on marked World Food Programme trucks that killed a driver.

Cross-border staging could force Sudan’s army to divide attention between eastern approaches and Kordofan. The transfer claims remain source-based; they do not establish who authorised or supported the movements inside Ethiopia.