Full story
Drones downed, fighting widens
The Sudanese army said on Monday it shot down a reconnaissance drone of the FT-95 model belonging to the Rapid Support Forces in North Kordofan state, in the south of the country, and it said the downing happened in the Grijkh area.
“shot down a reconnaissance drone of the FT-95 model belonging to the Rapid Support Forces in North Kordofan state”
The army said it was able to shoot down the hostile drone in Grijkh, and it described the FT-95 as Chinese-made and designed for reconnaissance, surveillance, and electronic warfare missions with the ability to fly for more than 12 hours continuously.
The same Al-Jazeera Net report said the Rapid Support Forces have not commented on the Sudanese army’s announcement yet, and it added that this was the second drone the army said it had shot down in a few days after announcing a first drone shot down in Jabra al-Sheikh in North Kordofan last Saturday.
In parallel, the report described a humanitarian displacement wave in Sudan, saying around 40,000 people fled during the past week from the Kisaan locality and its surroundings in the Blue Nile region in southeastern Sudan.
The report also said the Darfur Victims Support Organization condemned the Sudanese army’s shelling of the bridge linking Bakouri and Amora in Kisaan province in the Blue Nile region, saying the shelling was carried out by artillery on Thursday evening and resulted in its destruction.
Chad strike, satellite debate
Chad’s General Staff said aircraft and drones belonging to the Sudanese army or its allies bombed a convoy of vehicles inside Chadian territory, with the attack extending more than 100 kilometers into the eastern Ideidé province in northeastern Chad near the border with Sudan.
Al Jazeera’s Open Source Intelligence unit said satellite images obtained by the Sentinel-2 on August 21 show heat spots and dark burn marks at various locations in the area, and it said the images also reveal several black dots and burn traces that did not exist previously.
The report said Sudanese platforms transmitted reports and footage indicating targeting of Rapid Support Forces supply lines at the Sudan-Chad border, while it also noted that burning events occurred around the time of the incident but did not by themselves prove the nature of all the damaged objects or the final number of vehicles targeted.
In a separate local account, Rich Tedd said Sentinel-2 satellite images confirmed a strike inside Chad about 78 kilometers from the Sudanese border, and he said he identified at least 39 burn marks as well as several vehicles on fire.
That same local article said the Chadian armed forces placed on the highest level of alert, with General Chanane Issakha Acheikh saying the measure aims to enable the army to respond to any new threat to national territory.
RSF supply lines targeted
The Sudanese Armed Forces said on Sunday, August 23 it shot down a drone described as an “adversarial strategic” unit southeast of Dinderu in Blue Nile State after it crossed the border from the direction of Ethiopia, following a similar announcement on Saturday about downing a drone coming from Ethiopian soil while flying over the Blue Nile on the Karumuk axis.
“shot down a drone described as an “adversarial strategic” unit southeast of Dinderu”
The same report said military aircraft and drones belonging to the armed forces carried out strikes on RSF gatherings in five areas in West Kordofan, naming Um Sehma, Al-Khoy, Um Lubanā, Khamas, and Al-Sa’ata.
It also described a strike on a RSF military convoy near the tri-border area of Sudan, Libya, and Chad, and it said sources reported fires in several vehicles and military and logistical supplies as the army intensified monitoring along the border with neighboring western countries.
On the humanitarian side, the Al-Jazeera Net report said Kisaan locality in the Blue Nile region is experiencing the 'worst humanitarian suffering' due to ongoing military operations, and it said about 40,000 Sudanese citizens—mostly women, children, and the elderly—were forced to flee toward the areas of Deim Saad, Wud al-Muhami, al-Kar, and other areas.
The report said the organization stressed that what is happening in Kisaan locality is 'not just a transient displacement wave, but a humanitarian crisis requiring a response,' and it called for ensuring civilian protection and announcing an urgent humanitarian truce.