Since April 2023, Sudan has been engulfed in a conflict between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that has killed tens of thousands of people.

The war has also uprooted some 11 million people and triggered what the UN describes as the world's largest displacement and hunger crisis.

In its statement, the army said its forces "succeeded in opening the Dilling road after carrying out a successful military operation", claiming they had inflicted "heavy losses" on the RSF.

The army's advance has secured its hold over both the northern and southern approaches to Dilling.

AFP could not independently verify the army's claim and the RSF has not commented yet.

The push around Dilling comes as the army attempts to stem a sweeping paramilitary advance across the wider Kordofan region.

Backed by the Sudan People's Liberation Movement?North faction led by Abdelaziz al-Hilu, the RSF shifted its focus eastward after seizing the army's last stronghold in western Darfur last October.

Since then, the paramilitary group has tightened its grip on West Kordofan, taken Heglig -- home to Sudan's largest oil field -- and intensified its siege of famine-hit Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan.

Atrocities surged following the RSF's capture of El?Fasher, with reports of mass killings, sexual violence, abductions and widespread looting. The UN has warned that similar abuses could spread into Kordofan.

More than 65,000 people have fled the Kordofan region since October, according to the latest UN figures.

A UN-backed assessment last year already confirmed famine in Kadugli, which has been under RSF siege for more than a year and a half.

The assessment said conditions in Dilling were likely similar, but security issues and a lack of access have prevented a formal declaration.