RSF drones strike Khartoum and four other Sudanese cities in two-day offensive

RSF drone offensive across Sudan

The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) launched a large-scale coordinated drone attack on Wednesday August 12, targeting five cities controlled by the Sudanese army across hundreds of kilometers. The offensive continued Thursday August 13, with the capital Khartoum struck for the second consecutive day. An AFP journalist in Khartoum reported surface-to-air missile launches from Omdurman, Khartoum's twin city, followed by explosions. Witnesses in central Khartoum and Khartoum North (Bahri), across the Nile, reported seeing drones and hearing explosions.

A military source told AFP that the army's air defenses responded to the militia's drones and shot them down. The RSF has not claimed responsibility for the drone strikes on Khartoum. According to Reuters, these were the first such attacks since May.

Attacks on al-Obeid and the Kordofan front

The strategically important city of al-Obeid in North Kordofan was also hit. Witnesses told Reuters that eight drones attacked the city, prompting the army's air defenses to respond. Medical workers reported two people killed and others wounded. Al-Obeid sits on two central roads used by both the army and the RSF for supply, including the route north toward the capital.

Fighting was also reported in Jabret al-Cheikh and Bara, along the road connecting Khartoum to El-Obeid. The Kordofan region, situated between army-controlled central Sudan and RSF-controlled Darfur, has been contested for months. The UN estimates that more than 1,000 people have been killed by drone attacks from both sides in Kordofan since the beginning of the year.

RSF advances in Blue Nile state

The RSF announced on Wednesday August 12 that it had taken control of Geissan in Blue Nile state, near the Ethiopian border. The attack was preceded by drone strikes and heavy artillery fire on Tuesday. RSF fighters posted photos and videos on social media in front of a medical center in the city and displaying captured weapons depots. The army stated that fighting continued and that the 13th Infantry Division's military base remained in its possession, with the army using Turkish drones to strike RSF positions.

The RSF also claimed control of Kurmuk, another Blue Nile city near the Ethiopian border that had been recaptured by the army last month. A military source told AFP the attack was launched from Ethiopian territory. Ethiopia denies hosting RSF fighters, but according to converging evidence cited by RFI, the RSF and allied forces train at a camp in Benishangul, Ethiopia, and the country channels UAE military aid to the paramilitaries through Asosa airport. The RSF described the operation in a statement.

This victory was achieved after a heroic battle fought with courage and unwavering determination. Our brave forces inflicted heavy losses on the Army of the Islamic Movement, both in men and materiel, pursuing the remnants, who fled defeated.

The RSF also said it seized large quantities of weapons and ammunition currently being inventoried. The International Organization for Migration reported that the fighting in Geissan displaced 2,500 people, including 500 families, with some civilians crossing into Ethiopia. The Geissan government said the attack occurred during harvest season and that the entire harvest and central market were pillaged, calling it an "extreme crime."

War's toll and territorial control

The war between the army of Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the RSF of Mohamed Hamdan Daglo has lasted since April 2023. Humanitarian workers estimate more than 200,000 people have been killed and over 12 million displaced, in what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis. The army controls the center, north, and east of the country, while the RSF holds Darfur in the west and seeks to expand in South Kordofan and along the Ethiopian border.

Observers have warned against a repeat of the atrocities during the RSF's capture of al-Fashir in Darfur last autumn, when the UN human rights office reported more than 6,000 people killed in three days. A UN commission of inquiry found the RSF's violence bore characteristics of genocide.