Conflict & Security
Sudan RSF attacks widen after drone strikes kill 2
Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces launched drone and ground attacks across the country on Thursday, a day after coordinated drone strikes killed two people in El-Obeid, according to the Emergency Lawyers rights group.
Drones and anti-aircraft missiles were seen over Khartoum for a second day in a row. An AFP correspondent reported anti-aircraft missiles fired from Omdurman, Khartoum's twin city, followed by the sound of an explosion. Witnesses in central Khartoum and Khartoum North also reported seeing drones and hearing explosions.
An army source told AFP that military air defences engaged RSF drones and downed them.
Southwest of Khartoum, army and RSF sources reported fighting around Jabret al-Sheikh and Bara, on the highway linking the capital with El-Obeid, the largest city in southern Kordofan. An army source said Jabret al-Sheikh was attacked with many vehicles after drone strikes. An RSF source said battles were continuing there and in Bara.
A second RSF attack was reported on Kurmuk, on Sudan's southeastern border with Ethiopia. The RSF said it had “liberated the strategic town”. An army official said the attack was the latest launched “from inside Ethiopian territory”. Ethiopia has denied accusations that it harbours RSF fighters.
The attacks followed RSF drone strikes on Wednesday that targeted five army-controlled cities hundreds of kilometres apart. Emergency Lawyers, a rights group that documents atrocities by both sides, said those strikes killed two people in El-Obeid and paralysed the city's market.
Sudan has been at war since April 2023 between the military, led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the RSF, commanded by Mohamed Hamdan Daglo. Aid workers estimate more than 200,000 people have been killed across the country. The United Nations calls the conflict a “war of atrocities” and says it has caused the world's largest hunger and displacement crises.
Update
Emergency Lawyers said Wednesday's RSF strikes killed two people in El-Obeid and paralysed the city's market.
The latest attacks followed coordinated drone strikes on five army-controlled cities a day earlier.
Source note: AFP news report published on 13 August 2026 at 14:00:15 UTC.
Update
RSF forces reportedly launched a counteroffensive around Jabret al-Sheikh and Bara on the highway linking Khartoum to El-Obeid.
An attack was reported on Kurmuk, on Sudan's southeastern border with Ethiopia.
An RSF source claimed the paramilitary had taken Kurmuk, while an army official said the attack was launched from inside Ethiopian territory.
The new item frames the attacks as a multi-pronged RSF operation across Sudan.
Source note: AFP news report published on 13 August 2026 at 10:24:12 UTC.
Update
Drones attacked Khartoum for a second day on Thursday, according to an AFP correspondent and witnesses.
An AFP correspondent reported anti-aircraft missiles fired from Omdurman, followed by an explosion.
An army source told AFP that air defences engaged and downed the drones.
Witnesses in central Khartoum and Khartoum North reported seeing drones and hearing explosions.
Source note: AFP news report published on 13 August 2026 at 07:35:31 UTC.
Update
Two eyewitnesses reported a drone strike on the local airport in Sifeiya, near the South Sudan border.
RSF spokesman Al-Fatih Qurashi said the RSF also targeted a military airport in Sudan's far south.
The Emergency Lawyers rights group reported an apparent retaliatory army attack near Jabret al-Sheikh that killed at least five civilians and injured 10.
The source item added that the army and allied militias have repeatedly been accused of attacking civilians in recently recaptured areas.
Source note: AFP news report published on 12 August 2026 at 13:52:51 UTC.
Update
RSF spokesman Al-Fatih Qurashi confirmed in a social media post that the paramilitary group targeted the airport and army warehouses in Atbara and fuel depots in Omdurman.
The attacks appeared to be the RSF's largest coordinated drone attack in months.
Source note: AFP news report published on 12 August 2026 at 12:02:35 UTC.
Update
An army source attributed the drone strikes to the Rapid Support Forces.
The army source said El-Obeid was also attacked, in addition to Khartoum, Atbara and El-Damer.
A witness said two drones hit a mosque and an electricity transformer in Khartoum North's El-Droshab area.
A witness in Tamboul said civilians were in a state of fear after drones appeared above the town.
There were no immediate casualty reports, including at the mosque, where worshippers had recently left after dawn prayers.
Source note: AFP news report published on 12 August 2026 at 09:11:19 UTC.
Uncertainty notes
The battlefield status of Jabret al-Sheikh, Bara and Kurmuk could not be independently confirmed from the supplied material.
Ethiopia denies accusations that it harbours RSF fighters.
The United Arab Emirates denies reports that it backs the RSF.
Source
AFP news report published on .