Paramilitaries launch drones, ground attacks across Sudan

Across the country, aid workers estimate more than 200,000 people have been killed in what the U.N. calls a "war of atrocities."(AFP) — Drones targeted the Sudanese capital Khartoum on Thursday as paramilitary forces launched ground attacks in central Sudan and in the southeast near the Ethiopian border, sources from both sides reported.Since April 2023, Sudan has been ravaged by a war between the Sudanese military, led by its chief, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, commanded by Burhan’s former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.Drones and anti-aircraft missiles were seen by an AFP correspondent over Khartoum on Thursday for the second day in a row, as army and paramilitary sources reported RSF attacks across the country.Southwest of Khartoum, the paramilitary launched a counteroffensive on the highway connecting the capital with El-Obeid, the largest city in the southern region of Kordofan.An army source reported “an attack with a large number of vehicles on the town of Jabret al-Sheikh, which was preceded by drone strikes.”An RSF source confirmed a battle was ongoing there, as well as in the town of Bara farther south, which both sides have struggled to hold as they wrestle for control over El-Obeid’s northern axis.Both sources requested anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.An AFP correspondent in the capital reported anti-aircraft missiles fired from Omdurman, Khartoum’s twin city, followed by the sound of an explosion.“Military air defenses engaged with the militia’s drones and downed them,” an army source told AFP.The latest attacks come a day after the RSF launched far-reaching, coordinated drone strikes targeting five army-controlled cities hundreds of kilometers apart.Wednesday’s strikes killed two people in El-Obeid and paralyzed the city’s market, the Emergency Lawyers, a rights group that documents atrocities on both sides of the war, said Thursday.Across the country, aid workers estimate more than 200,000 people have been killed in what the U.N. calls a “war of atrocities.” The conflict has also caused the world’s largest hunger and displacement crises.Ethiopian borderA second RSF attack was reported on the town of Kurmuk, on the southeastern border with Ethiopia, which the army had recaptured last month.An RSF statement said the paramilitary had “liberated the strategic town” in the attack, which the army official said was the latest launched “from inside Ethiopian territory.”Ethiopia has denied accusations it harbors RSF fighters with the support of the United Arab Emirates, though local sources say the porous border is a key supply line for the paramilitaries and their allies.The UAE denies widespread reports that it backs the RSF.The RSF’s multipronged offensive could reverse army gains from last month, when it pushed the paramilitary off the Khartoum-El-Obeid highway, strangling its bid to seize Kordofan.In the aftermath, Daglo said he would “unleash” his fighters — already accused of war crimes, including genocide — and his forces have since repeatedly threatened a large-scale retaliatory attack.Burhan and Daglo, allies until they fell out in a bitter power struggle, have spent most of the war in a relative stalemate, unwilling to hold negotiations while vying for a decisive battlefield advantage.Last year, the RSF consolidated its hold on the vast western region of Darfur and has since pushed to seize territory in Kordofan and along the southeastern Ethiopian border.The army holds the country’s center, north and east and has tried to project an image of a return to normality in areas it controls.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads