The Sudanese Armed Forces, or SAF, recaptured the strategic town of Kurmuk, located in the southeastern Blue Nile state along the border with Ethiopia, from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North, or SPLM-N, Sudan Tribune reported on July 8. Local reporting indicates that the RSF withdrew southward toward the locality of Yabus and in the direction of the Ethiopian border.

The RSF and SPLM-N launched an offensive in Blue Nile state in January and captured Kurmuk on March 24. However, RSF progress stalled in May after the SAF began a counteroffensive and redeployed military assets to the area. Investigations by Reuters and Yale University found that the RSF has established logistics facilities in western Ethiopia with support from the Ethiopian and Emirati governments, although both parties have rejected these claims.