KHARTOUM / ISTANBUL

The Sudanese army accused the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on Sunday of carrying out drone strikes on civilian facilities in North Kordofan State in southern Sudan.

The army said in a statement that the rebel group targeted a number of civilian facilities in the capital El-Obeid city, with suicide drones, damaging the Al-Dhaman Hospital, residential neighborhoods and some facilities on Saturday evening.

No casualties were reported from the attack.

The Sudanese army called the RSF attack “a moral defeat, and a demonstration of the rebel group’s persistence in violating international humanitarian law and harming innocent civilians.”

There was no immediate comment from the RSF on the army statement.

The latest attack came as the RSF-held territory has been shrinking rapidly in recent weeks, with the army expanding its control in Khartoum, White Nile, and North Kordofan states.

Currently, the RSF presence is limited to pockets in West Kordofan, South Kordofan, and Blue Nile states, in addition to four of Darfur’s five states.

Since mid-April 2023, the army and RSF have been fighting a war that numerous regional and international mediations have failed to end, despite the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the country.