The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces seized territory from the army as new fronts opened in Sudan’s 15-month civil war, raising fears the militia group would advance toward a military stronghold in the coastal city of Port Sudan.

A recent surge of warfare across central and southern Sudan — including an area on the border with South Sudan in oil-rich West Kordofan — led the Sudanese Armed Forces to declare a state of emergency in three states and dispatch reinforcements in recent days.