El-Obeid in Sudan hit by drone strikes
El-Obeid was hit by drone strikes shortly after control of the city’s highway was won by the Sudanese Armed Forces report Asharq Al-Awsat and agencies on July 27th.
In the early hours of July 27th, drone strikes hit the capital of North Kordofan, El-Obeid destroying an Agricultural Bank of Sudan branch and a lawyers’ association. So far no casualties have been reported. The strikes have been attributed to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) by local authorities. Local resident Sabreen Mohamed said residents were used to the strikes as “every time the army advances, they retaliate against North Kordofan”
Since 2023 the RSF have been battling the Sudanese Armed Forces in a bloody civil war that has killed more than an estimated 200,000 people. UN data shows that drone strikes alone have been responsible for the deaths of 1000 people in Kordofan.
On July 26th, the Sudanese army succeeded in their mission to push the RSF away from El-Obeid. In recent months the RSF troops have surrounded the city but have now been pushed west and away from the highway connecting El-Obeid and Khartoum.
Alongside its access to the highway, El-Obeid is a key area in the Kordofan region as RSF bases in the Darfur region and Sudanese army areas of central Sudan are connected through its east-west axis.
With the Sudanese army gaining control of El-Obeid, army officials say “a second supply route to El-Obeid and beyond” can be created. For the majority of the war, civilians have relied on the eastern road to the White Nile for supplies. This route has been regularly targeted with drone strikes from the RSF.
Mohamed said the opening of more supply routes is a relief as it “means goods can flow” to the city. El-Obeid is said to have hundreds of thousands of residents who require aid, according to the UN.
Asharq Al-Awsat plus agencies, Maghrebi.org
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