A drone strike carried out by Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces in southern Kordofan’s El-Rahad city resulted in the deaths of two children and injuries to 12 individuals on the previous day, according to a medical source cited by AFP. The Kordofan area is currently the primary battleground in the conflict between the RSF and the regular army that commenced in April 2023.
Witness Ahmed Moussa reported seeing numerous students wounded during the attack, noting that the drone targeted a traditional Koranic school. El-Rahad is strategically positioned on a crucial route connecting El-Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan, to the White Nile river, which serves as the army’s primary link to Khartoum, the capital.
In February, the city was recaptured by the army as part of a swift offensive aimed at breaking a prolonged siege on El-Obeid and pushing westward. Subsequently, the RSF has been attempting to besiege El-Obeid once more, resorting to repeated drone strikes along the eastern highway that links Darfur in the west to the rest of the nation.
The ongoing conflict has resulted in numerous casualties and forced approximately 11 million individuals to flee their homes, leading to severe hunger and displacement crises on a global scale. The division caused by the war has effectively split the country, with the army controlling the northern, central, and eastern regions while the RSF and its allies dominate the west and parts of the south.
In recent days, the army, which had been on the defensive after the RSF’s consolidation of power in Darfur in October, has made significant strides by breaking sieges on two paramilitary-held cities in South Kordofan: Dilling and Kadugli. These cities have become symbols of the violence in Kordofan, where a large population is at risk of starvation due to ongoing drone attacks.