Verifying footage showing Sudanese army inside key townpublished at 14:09 BST
Peter Mwai and Kumar Malhotra
BBC Verify senior journalists
The Sudanese army, which has been fighting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in a civil war since 2023, has announced the retaking of the town of Bara in the North Kordofan region of central Sudan – an important gain in its attempt to control more of the country.
With the fighting often taking place in remote areas, verifying videos and images posted on social media is an important means of confirming events.
We have located several videos showing Sudanese army soldiers and fighters from allied groups at several locations inside the town on Thursday, which is consistent with reports of its recapture.
The videos were filmed at a main road junction, outside the town courthouse, and at the main hospital. In some videos, the people filming mention the date as 11 September.
A key commander, Abu Aqla Keikal, seen with other fighters outside a Bara Hotel
One video filmed outside a hotel in the town shows a key commander Abu Aqla Keikal – who defected from the RSF last year. His defection enabled the army to take back another part of central Sudan from the RSF.
We have matched the buildings and other landmarks we see in the clips to images available on Google Maps and checked previous images of the army commander to the person seen in the video filmed at the hotel.
Controlling Bara allows the army the secure the North Kordofan state capital, El-Obeid and control another supply route into central Sudan from the capital, Khartoum, which it took back from the RSF earlier this year.