The RSF launched its widest drone assault in months against Khartoum and army-held cities. Violence in El Obeid and Blue Nile is sending more families into displacement sites already beyond capacity.
Geopolitics··Midday
An assault stretching north from Khartoum
Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces sent large numbers of drones against Khartoum and other army-held cities on Wednesday. An AFP correspondent, witnesses and an army source described a broad, coordinated RSF operation. The army source named the capital, El Obeid in Kordofan and the northern cities of Atbara and El Damer among the targets. The first strike in Khartoum was heard at 05.00, followed by anti-aircraft missiles from the direction of the Wadi Seidna base north of Omdurman. In El Droshab, in Khartoum North, two drones hit a mosque and an electricity transformer. It was not immediately clear whether air defences had brought them down, and no casualties were initially reported there. In a single morning, the RSF attack reached towards a military base in the capital, a civilian place of worship, electricity infrastructure and widely separated cities. Initial accounts left both the extent of material damage and the performance of air defences uncertain.[1]
El Obeid is both target and refuge
El Obeid is more than one of the cities caught in the new drone wave; it is also a centre of North Kordofan's displacement emergency. OCHA recorded several drone strikes across the city on Wednesday. About 15,000 families have arrived there in only 3 weeks. OCHA, IOM and UNICEF said displacement sites and essential services were already operating beyond capacity. That pressure means the consequences extend past immediate blast damage to access to water, shelter, health care and other basic support. The army's recovery of the Khartoum-El Obeid highway matters for access to the city, yet repeated drone strikes make it harder for El Obeid to function as a safe refuge. Humanitarian agencies urged the warring parties to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure and to allow aid to pass quickly, safely and without obstruction. The city now captures the tightening pattern of the war: families flee fighting elsewhere and arrive in El Obeid, only for the place offering shelter to become a target from the air.[1], [2]
Deaths in Blue Nile, a shortfall in aid
Civilians also came under attack that week in Geisan, a town in Blue Nile state. Fighting on Tuesday killed more than 20 civilians, wounded others and forced about 2,500 people from their homes. The events show a war that began between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF in April 2023 continuing through both aerial attacks and ground fighting in separate regions. Aid workers estimate that more than 200,000 people have been killed. The UN describes Sudan as the world's largest humanitarian and displacement crisis. Funding has not kept pace with the need. The 2026 humanitarian appeal for Sudan seeks nearly 3 billion dollars, but has received 1.2 billion dollars so far, or about 41 per cent of the target. The latest violence in Khartoum, El Obeid and Geisan is increasing the number of places that need safe aid access while putting still more pressure on shelter and services. As drone operations reach farther across the country, an open road alone cannot ensure that relief can move without danger or obstruction.[1], [2]
