Victory in the Field… or the Moment of Hudaybiyyah?
The Face of Truth | Ibrahim Shaglawi
What is unfolding today on the fronts of operations in Kordofan and Blue Nile suggests that Sudan stands at a new phase. The rapid military advances, and the army’s nearing control over Greater Kordofan, reveal a shift in the balance of power, marked by the erosion of militia structures from within and a transformation in tribal loyalties.
During Thursday and Friday, various media outlets, including what was reported by “Tag Press,” circulated news about a group of fighters affiliated with the Rapid Support Forces militia from one of the tribal components in Kordofan surrendering their weapons and joining the Sudanese Armed Forces, bringing with them large quantities of vehicles and equipment. In the same context, other private reports pointed to the growing role of traditional administrations in Kordofan and Darfur in facilitating dialogue with their sons who are fighting, reflecting that the transformation is no longer confined to military contact lines, but has begun to penetrate the social structure that sustains and governs the equations of loyalty and influence.
These developments coincided with an official statement issued Thursday by the General Command of the Armed Forces, announcing a series of operations within 72 hours across several axes, including Blue Nile, West and North Kordofan, and Darfur. According to the statement, field breakthroughs were achieved through the liberation of areas in Blue Nile, the destruction of tanks, armored vehicles, and combat units in West Kordofan, in addition to targeting gatherings and weapons depots in Darfur, within operations described as “decisive” against the militia’s capabilities on multiple fronts.
Politically, the statement can be read as an expression of a shift in field doctrine from managing the war to reimposing comprehensive control across all battlefronts, meaning that the state is no longer operating within a defensive logic, but rather within a framework of reclaiming the states of Kordofan and Darfur. This transformation represents a turning point between the phase of attrition and the phase of decisive action and restoration of control.
In parallel, the strikes that targeted high-level leadership meetings indicate a qualitative breach in the militia’s security system. Access to these closed circles not only signifies precision in intelligence, but also reveals internal fragmentation that weakens the ability to protect the command and control center. With this coinciding with sustained operational pressure, an environment closer to “collapse” is taking shape, where mobilizations fade, supply lines recede, and leadership loses its cohesion.
Yet despite this progress, a political reading cannot stop at the limits of military victory. History, in its clearest moments, teaches that the peak of القوة may mark the beginning of the true test. Here emerges the significance of invoking the month of Dhu al-Qa’dah, which we are living through these days, with all its pivotal stations in the Prophetic biography.
In this month, the Pledge of al-Ridwan manifested as the highest expression of cohesion and unity around leadership and purpose, where a solid collective will took shape, one that knows no retreat. This meaning is reflected today in the state of alignment supporting leadership and the advance of the armed forces, and in the growing conviction that decisive victory is possible.
However, that historical moment was not the end of the road or its peak, but rather a prelude to the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, which appeared at first as a concession, yet laid the foundation for a strategic opening that later transformed the balance of power. This paradox carries a profound lesson: that true victory is not tested at the moment of triumph, but in how its aftermath is managed. While power creates opportunity, politics shapes the project.
From this perspective, the approaching liberation of Greater Kordofan places the Sudanese state before a responsibility that transcends the battlefield. The challenge will not lie in controlling territory, but in reshaping it politically and socially. Kordofan is not merely a geography to be reclaimed, but a complex space of tribal and economic balances that requires an approach capable of accommodating local actors, rebuilding trust with communities and traditional and regional leaderships, and preventing the region from slipping back into cycles of conflict.
Any reading that reduces what is happening to a mere military victory overlooks that modern wars are not entirely decided by weapons, but by the state’s ability to transform a moment of superiority into a national project for stability and recovery. Just as Hudaybiyyah opened the way for the spread of the message in a safer environment, the aftermath of operations in Kordofan, Blue Nile, and Darfur requires opening a political horizon that matches the military achievement and establishes a peace grounded in rebuilding the state, not merely imposing control.
The question, then, is not whether victory has been achieved on the battlefield, but how it will be invested. Will the state move toward entrenching a logic of dominance, or will it realize that the moment of strength is the most suitable for launching a political initiative that reorders the landscape? Here lies the essence of the test—between the necessities of decisiveness and the wisdom of management.
According to #The_Face_of_Truth, between victory in the field and the moment of Hudaybiyyah, Sudan stands on the edge of a historic choice. Either this moment becomes the beginning of a foundation, where power is managed with political awareness that opens the doors to stability, or it remains merely another link in a chain of incomplete victories. At this turning point, the question is not about the ability to decide, but about the ability to move into the future.
Wishing you well and good health.
Saturday, April 25, 2026
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