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.

Dagalo, the brother of RSF commander Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, widely known as Hemedti, was identified as playing a key role in sustaining RSF operations, including in El-Fasher, where widespread abuses have been documented during the group’s siege of the city.

A February report by the U.N. Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan detailed what it described as grave violations committed during the assault on El-Fasher, including systematic starvation, torture, killings, rape and deliberate ethnic targeting on a large scale.

In addition to Dagalo, the council imposed sanctions on three Colombian nationals — Alvaro Andres Quijano Becerra, Claudia Viviana Oliveros Forero and Mateo Andres Duque Botero — for their alleged roles in recruiting former Colombian military personnel to fight for the RSF in Sudan.

According to evidence cited by U.N. officials, Colombian recruits provided tactical and technical support to RSF forces and served as infantry fighters, artillery operators, drone specialists, drivers and military trainers. Some were also accused of involvement in training children for combat.

The recruits were reported to have taken part in multiple battles across Sudan, including in the capital Khartoum, Omdurman, Kordofan and El-Fasher.
British Minister of State for Africa Jenny Chapman said the sanctions reflected a broader determination to hold those responsible for abuses accountable.

“We are cracking down on those who facilitate and profit from this conflict,” Chapman said in a statement. “We are determined that all individuals responsible for these atrocities will be held to account.”

She added that Britain, working with allies, would continue efforts to push Sudan’s warring parties toward negotiations, secure humanitarian access and pursue justice for victims.

The 1591 sanctions regime, established in 2005, includes travel bans, asset freezes and arms embargoes against individuals and entities accused of obstructing peace efforts in Sudan’s Darfur region. Diplomats said the latest measures were approved unanimously by all 15 members of the Security Council sanctions committee.

In February, Britain, France and the United States secured sanctions against four RSF commanders linked to atrocities in El-Fasher, signaling growing international concern over the deepening conflict.

Sudan has been engulfed in war since April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF, a power struggle that has triggered one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises, displacing millions and devastating large parts of the country.