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 left 11 million people displaced and triggered what the UN describes as the world's largest displacement and hunger crises.

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.

If confirmed, the advance would secure the army's hold over both the northern and southern approaches to Dilling, located in South Kordofan state.

The city lies halfway between Kadugli -- the besieged state capital -- and El?Obeid, the capital of neighbouring North Kordofan, which the RSF has sought to encircle.

Videos shared on social media showed army forces, said to be in Dilling, celebrating atop pick-up trucks as people ululated and cheered alongside them.

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

- Sweeping offensive -

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

Since seizing the army's last stronghold in western Darfur last October, the RSF has shifted its focus eastward, aided by its local allies, namely the Sudan People's Liberation Movement?North faction led by Abdelaziz al-Hilu.

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 Kadugli.

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.

The UN has repeatedly cautioned that atrocities similar to those reported during the RSF offensive in El?Fasher -- including mass killings, sexual violence, abductions and widespread looting -- could spread into Kordofan.

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

Those escaping, particularly from South Kordofan, face "long and uncertain journeys" lasting up to 30 days and sleep "wherever they can", according to Mercy Corps, one of the few aid groups operating there.