RSF Drone Strikes Kill 23 in El-Obeid, Rights Group Says

Drone strikes on the strategic Sudanese city of el-Obeid in North Kordofan killed 23 people, a rights group said, with the attacks beginning on Wednesday evening and continuing into Thursday.

“Sudanese paramilitary drone strikes kill at least 15 people in central region, officials say Sudanese paramilitary forces have carried out drone strikes in a central region, killing at least 15 people and wounding dozens CAIRO -- Sudanese paramilitary forces carried out drone strikes overnight in central Sudan, killing at least 15 people and wounding dozens, health officials said Thursday, as the use of unmanned aircraft becomes increasingly common in the more than three-year war in the African country”

ABC News

Emergency Lawyers said the strikes hit residential areas, a funeral gathering and a truck carrying food supplies, and the group blamed the attacks on the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

ABC News

The BBC said a drone strike on a funeral procession at a cemetery in el-Obeid killed at least four people and injured several others, with both Sudan Doctors Network and Emergency Lawyers blaming the RSF.

The BBC also said Emergency Lawyers described the cemetery attack as part of a series of drone strikes that started on Wednesday evening in which at least 23 people have died in all, while the RSF had not commented.

In the same el-Obeid attacks, a resident told AFP, "The roofs of houses collapsed on their occupants," describing scenes after the strikes in the Al-Matar neighbourhood in the east of the city.

Emergency Lawyers said RSF drones killed 23 civilians and injured 19 in a series of strikes on el-Obeid, with the group describing a first attack that killed five civilians and injured 12.

Middle East Monitor said a subsequent strike targeted a gathering at the Dalil Cemetery during a funeral for the victims, killing four civilians and injuring seven more, and it said Thursday’s attacks also hit homes in the Al-Muwazzafeen and Al-Matar neighbourhoods.

Al Jazeera

ABC News, citing health officials, said paramilitary drone strikes killed at least 15 people and wounded dozens in central Sudan, with attacks targeting various areas of el-Obeid including near an army position.

ABC News quoted Dr. Mohamed Elsheikh, a spokesperson with Sudan Doctors Network, saying that in el-Obeid RSF drones also hit a funeral gathering at a cemetery, killing four people there, and a gas station, while he could not immediately confirm if the casualties were civilians, combatants or both.

Emergency Lawyers warned that the death toll was likely to increase as drones were still flying over the city, and the BBC reported that Emergency Lawyers said 13 civilians were killed as civilians gathered near destroyed houses.

The attacks in el-Obeid were described as disrupting daily life, with an aid worker with Mercy Corps telling the AP that schools suspended classes and markets were only partially open because of the attacks.

“Drone strikes on the central Sudanese city of el-Obeid have killed up to 23 people, officials and a rights group have reported”

Al Jazeera

United News of Bangladesh reported that Mercy Corps said drone attacks had intensified across el-Obeid in recent days, targeting public gatherings and disrupting daily life, while Emergency Lawyers warned the death toll could rise as drones continued flying over the city.

The BBC said el-Obeid is currently in the hands of the army and is a key battleground in Sudan’s three-year civil war, which began after leaders of the army and RSF fell out over the future direction of the country.

The BBC also said the fighting has created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis with more than 11 million people forced from their homes and 28 million facing acute hunger, while it noted there are no reliable figures for the death toll but it is thought to be at least 50,000.

In the broader conflict, the Macau Business report said the war has killed tens of thousands of people and forced more than 11 million from their homes, creating what the UN describes as the world’s largest displacement and hunger crises, as drone warfare becomes an increasingly prominent feature of Sudan’s conflict.