Sudan’s govt returns to Khartoum as RSF drone strike kills 27
Explosions in Sinja city (via TRT Afrika)
An airstrike by the Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) killed 27 people in a military base located in the southeastern city of Sinja, just after the Sudanese government announced its return to the capital city of Khartoum on January 11th after three years of civil war, according to Al Jazeera.
The government-backed Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the UAE-backed RSF have been at war since April 2023, with the capital city of Khartoum serving as a main battlefield at the outbreak of the conflict where the SAF were first expelled from.
The Sinja military base, which is the capital of the Sennar state, is located about 300 km north of Khartoum and houses the SAF’s 17th Infantry Division, which is reportedly the target of the drone attacks. An RSF adviser has expressed on Facebook that the attack was intended as a warning to the Sudanese military leaders.
According to Al Jazeera sources, about 13 people, including military figures and civilians were injured in the attack. But AFP sources cite that at least 73 people were wounded.
Salah Adam Abdullah, a spokesperson for the Sennar state government, said that the military had repelled the drone attack using its “anti-aircraft defences” and that the city has returned to functioning normally. Although the city of Sinja is a strategic place for the military, it has largely avoided the worst of the fighting since the SAF had regained control of Khartoum in 2024 and declared it RSF-free in 2025.
The RSF had also carried out drone strikes in South Kordofan on 12th January, where eyewitnesses and medics estimate at least five civilians were killed and 13 others injured. The Sudan Doctors Network condemned the RSF strike on civilians, calling it a “flagrant violation” of international humanitarian law.
The market area was said to have had no military presence at all, injuring mostly women and elderly people during its peak hours.
The SAF, meanwhile, has announced that it has destroyed around 100 vehicles belonging to the RSF, according to the Middle East Monitor on January 13th. The SAF is carrying out targeted operations against the RSF across regions, claiming that hundreds of RSF fighters were killed or wounded during the operations.
They also claim to have accessed ammunition and fuel depots belonging to the RSF, which they have destroyed. The SAF says they are continuously engaged in efforts to secure Sudan free of the RSF.
Sudan’s war has created one of the largest humanitarian crises, with deadly attacks against civilians displacing about 14 million people, five million being children, and a hunger crisis that can escalate to famines.
Al Jazeera, AFP, Xinhua, Middle East Monitor, Maghrebi.org
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