Sudan Drone Strikes Kill 23 in El-Obeid as War Expands Across Key Kordofan City
Khartoum-Drone strikes on the Sudanese city of El-Obeid killed at least 23 people and wounded 19 others, a rights monitoring group said on Thursday, marking one of the deadliest aerial attacks reported in the country since the outbreak of war between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The attacks began on Wednesday evening and continued into Thursday, targeting residential neighborhoods, a funeral gathering and a truck transporting food supplies in the strategically important city in North Kordofan state, according to the Emergency Lawyers group.
The organization, which has documented alleged abuses during the conflict, blamed the strikes on the RSF. The claims could not be independently verified, and the paramilitary force did not immediately comment on the allegations.
Residents described extensive destruction across parts of the city, with homes damaged or destroyed and casualties transported to local hospitals.
One witness in the Al-Matar district in eastern El-Obeid said several houses collapsed after being hit, trapping residents beneath the rubble. Another resident told AFP that a relative was among those killed and that he had seen multiple bodies brought to a nearby medical facility.
A medical source said two children and a woman believed to be their mother were among the dead.
El-Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan, has been partially surrounded by RSF forces for months and remains a key strategic center linking western and eastern Sudan. Control of the wider Kordofan region is viewed as critical because it connects RSF-held territories in Darfur with areas controlled by the Sudanese army.
Drone warfare has become an increasingly significant feature of Sudan’s conflict since fighting erupted in April 2023 between the military and the RSF. The use of unmanned aerial attacks has expanded as both sides seek to strike targets beyond front-line positions.
According to United Nations figures, at least 880 civilians were killed in drone strikes across Sudan between January and April this year.
Military operations have intensified in Kordofan and neighboring Blue Nile state in recent months, particularly following the RSF’s capture of El-Fasher in October 2025, ending the army’s hold on its last major stronghold in western Darfur.
The broader conflict has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced more than 11 million and triggered what the United Nations has described as the world’s largest displacement and hunger crisis.
