Sudan’s El-Obeid under intensifying drone strikes as army and RSF clash over key city

Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are engaged in fierce combat around the central city of El-Obeid, with residents facing escalating drone strikes, ground assaults, and widespread abuses as the two warring sides battle for control of a strategically vital corridor. After two days of intense fighting, the Sudanese Armed Forces said it had regained control of the Al Sadarat highway, a critical military supply route, effectively breaking the RSF’s attempted siege of the city.

A city under aerial bombardment

Following the army’s reported gains along the highway, the RSF has responded with intensified drone strikes targeting areas inside and around El-Obeid. Residents described waves of explosions rocking residential neighborhoods, with civilians caught between competing frontlines and few options for safe evacuation. Reports have also emerged of abuses against civilians amid the chaos of the fighting. The use of armed drones by both sides has become an increasingly defining feature of Sudan’s civil war, allowing combatants to strike across long distances while exposing densely populated urban areas to risk.

A critical hub in Sudan’s wider war

El-Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan state, sits at a crossroads linking central Sudan with the western Darfur region and the south. Its capture or defense carries significant military and symbolic weight in the broader conflict between the army, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the RSF, commanded by Mohamed Hamdan Daglo. Control of the city’s transport arteries would allow whichever side holds it to funnel troops, weapons, and supplies toward other fronts in what has become one of the world’s largest displacement crises.

A trapped civilian population

Hundreds of thousands of people remain inside El-Obeid, unable or unwilling to flee as fighting intensifies on the city’s outskirts. Many families have been sheltering in their homes for days, cut off from reliable food, water, electricity, and medical care. Local accounts point to rising fear among civilians, particularly women and children, as the sound of drones and artillery grows more frequent. Aid agencies have warned that prolonged disruption to supply lines risks deepening an already dire humanitarian situation in the region.

Broader implications

The struggle for El-Obeid comes against the backdrop of Sudan’s protracted civil war, which erupted in April 2023 and has triggered massive displacement, food insecurity, and accusations of atrocities by both sides. International mediators have so far failed to secure a durable ceasefire, and the intensification of hostilities around key cities like El-Obeid suggests the conflict is entering yet another dangerous phase, one that could further entrench divisions and deepen the suffering of Sudanese civilians.

Source: FRANCE 24 — read the original report.