Suspected RSF drones strike Sudan’s Khartoum and Al Obeid
Drones suspected of having been launched by Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) struck three cities, including the capital Khartoum, on Wednesday, residents said.
The drones hit an area west of Omdurman, part of the greater capital region and home to large army bases, according to residents. Bahri, another city forming part of the Nile-side capital, was also targeted, The National reported.
Drones also struck the industrial city of Atbara, north of Khartoum, as well as Al Obeid, a key city in the central Kordofan region that has been under partial siege by the RSF for months.
Media reports that could not immediately be confirmed said at least two people were killed and six injured when the drones struck Al Obeid. Residents said the apparent target was a base housing the army’s Fifth Infantry Division.
Residents in the capital reported seeing drones flying over the city before hearing loud explosions shortly after dawn. They could not determine the specific targets that were hit. Videos posted online showed columns of black smoke rising above the capital, as well as footage of damaged buildings.
The National was not immediately able to verify the authenticity of the videos, and there was no immediate statement from either the RSF or the Sudanese Armed Forces — the other warring party in the civil conflict — regarding Wednesday’s drone attacks.
The attacks came a day after the RSF announced the capture of the town of Qayssan in the southern Blue Nile region, near the South Sudan border. They also followed last month’s capture by the army and its allies of a key Kordofan city and several areas along a vital motorway leading to Khartoum.
Most of the recent fighting in Sudan’s civil war has been concentrated in Kordofan, where the RSF and its allies are seeking to complete a sweep of the resource-rich region after taking near-total control of neighboring Darfur last year.
The RSF also controls parts of Blue Nile State, while the army controls the capital and the northern, eastern and central regions.
The war broke out in April 2023 after months of tensions between army chief Gen. Abdel Fattah Al Burhan and RSF commander Gen. Mohamed Dagalo over their respective roles in a democratic Sudan escalated into open hostilities.
With the war now in its fourth year, tens of thousands of people are believed to have been killed and about 14 million displaced. The war has also created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with an estimated 20 million people grappling with hunger.
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