RSF renews assault on Sudan's al-Obeid as drones strike capital, witnesses say

Aug 12 - The Sudanese Rapid Support Forces renewed its assault on the city of al-Obeid on Wednesday and stepped up drone and land attacks across the country this week following losses on several fronts, according to witnesses.

The RSF has found itself on the back foot lately in its war with the Sudanese army, a conflict that began in April 2023, drawing in foreign powers and creating what the United Nations considers the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

But on Wednesday, witnesses in al-Obeid said the strategically important city in the Kordofan region was targeted by eight drones, triggering army air defenses. Two people were killed and others were injured, according to medical sources.

Witnesses in the capital Khartoum and Atbara to the north, among other cities, reported drone strikes as well, the first since May.

In Bahri, part of the wider capital, a drone crashed through a mosque's courtyard in the early morning, according to residents of the neighbourhood and Reuters footage.

The RSF did not claim the attacks and the Sudanese army did not immediately comment. Reuters was unable to immediately verify who launched the drones or where they were launched from.

In a long RSF campaign for control of al-Obeid, the city has suffered drone attacks and siege tactics that had decimated its power, fuel, food, and water supplies, threatening a severe humanitarian crisis.

The city is estimated to currently contain half a million inhabitants, including about 100,000 people previously displaced by the conflict.

In recent weeks, the RSF had, under international pressure, paused its assault. But the army and the RSF have amassed more forces in the Kordofan region recently, army sources and eyewitnesses said, increasing the potential for renewed clashes.

The paramilitaries retain control of the Darfur region in the country's west, where they have started to set up a parallel government, while the army holds most of the eastern half of the country and is seeking to cement the legitimacy of the government it leads through a new national dialogue.

Gains by the army in recent months include advances in Kordofan, southeastern Blue Nile state, and West Darfur state.

After RSF losses in Kordofan, the force's chief Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, had pledged that his men would double down on attacks, and eventually reach Khartoum, which the army recaptured early last year.

On Tuesday, the RSF said it had captured the town of Geissan in Blue Nile state, in the country's southeast. While the army did not comment, the local government accused the RSF of attacking the city's farmers in their fields and said the army was fighting back.

The army and the RSF shared power after a 2019 popular uprising that led to the overthrow of long-ruling autocrat Omar al-Bashir. Fighting erupted in 2023 over plans to integrate their forces and set the stage for elections. REUTERS