RSF renews assault on Sudan’s al-Obeid as drones strike capital,

 The ​Sudanese Rapid Support Forces renewed its assault on the city of al-Obeid on Wednesday and stepped up ‌drone and land attacks across the country this week following losses on several fronts, according to witnesses.

The RSF has found itself on the back foot lately in its war with the Sudanese army, a conflict that began in April 2023, drawing in foreign powers and creating what the United ​Nations considers the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

But on Wednesday, witnesses in al-Obeid said the strategically important city in the Kordofan ​region was targeted by eight drones, triggering army air defenses. Two people were killed and others ⁠were injured, according to medical sources.

Witnesses in the capital Khartoum and Atbara to the north, among other cities, reported drone ​strikes as well, the first since May.

In Bahri, part of the wider capital, a drone crashed through a mosque’s courtyard in the ​early morning, according to residents of the neighbourhood and Reuters footage.

The RSF did not claim the attacks and the Sudanese army did not immediately comment. Reuters was unable to immediately verify who launched the drones or where they were launched from.

During a prolonged RSF campaign to seize control of al-Obeid, the city has endured drone strikes and siege tactics that have crippled its power, fuel, food, and water supplies, putting it on the brink of a severe humanitarian crisis.

The city is estimated to currently contain half a million inhabitants, including about 100,000 people previously displaced by the conflict.

In recent weeks, the RSF, under international pressure, paused its assault. However, according to army sources and eyewitnesses, both the army and the RSF have recently built up their forces in the Kordofan region, raising the risk of renewed clashes.

The paramilitaries retain control of the Darfur region in the country’s west, where they have started to set up a parallel government, while the army holds most of the eastern half ​of the country and is ​seeking to cement the legitimacy ⁠of the government it leads through a new national dialogue.