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.

According to the ICRC, more than 8,000 missing-person cases have been recorded during the war, although the organization said it had resolved over 1,000 cases and declined to specify how many involved people found alive or deceased.

Many of those missing in Khartoum state are believed to be among the thousands of bodies discovered in makeshift graves after the army regained control of the capital from RSF fighters last year. During intense fighting, residents often buried the dead near homes, roadsides and public spaces because access to cemeteries was too dangerous.

Associated Press reporters visiting Khartoum last month observed improvised burial sites in sports fields and other urban areas, with many graves lacking identification markers. A military media representative accompanied the reporting team during the visit.

Khartoum state authorities have relocated nearly 30,000 bodies from an estimated 50,000 hastily dug graves scattered across the region, according to forensic officials. The reburial effort remains ongoing as authorities work to identify the dead.

Hisham Zienalabdien, director general of Khartoum state’s forensic medicine department, said approximately 10% of recovered bodies remain unidentified. Authorities are preserving DNA samples from those remains in hopes that future testing will allow relatives to confirm identities.

Efforts to identify victims have been hampered by extensive wartime destruction. Laboratories that could conduct DNA analysis have been damaged or destroyed, while many forensic specialists have fled the country or are no longer able to work.

The uncertainty has left thousands of families searching for answers. Relatives continue visiting hospitals, morgues, detention centers and military facilities in attempts to locate loved ones who disappeared during military operations, displacement or detention.

Humanitarian organizations say the psychological burden of not knowing whether relatives are alive or dead has compounded the suffering caused by conflict and displacement. The ICRC said families of missing persons face heightened vulnerabilities stemming from ongoing hostilities and prolonged uncertainty.

The war has also complicated traditional burial practices. In many cases, families have been unable to retrieve or properly bury relatives killed during fighting, forcing communities to conduct emergency burials near homes and neighborhoods.

Sudan’s conflict has generated one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises, with widespread destruction, mass displacement and severe disruptions to public services across large parts of the country.

In Omdurman’s Al-Nao Educational Hospital, volunteers work as nurses, paramedics and pharmacists, often rushing to bomb sites to help victims.

Community kitchens known as “takkaya” provide free meals to families facing hunger, while local burial teams recover unidentified bodies and conduct funerals during ongoing shelling.

Many of these volunteers emerged from Sudan’s resistance committees, neighborhood groups that once led protests against former president Omar al-Bashir.

Despite reduced donations and constant danger, residents say they continue because basic survival in the war-torn capital depends on them.“We could leave tomorrow, but our country needs us,” one volunteer said.