RSF Launches Coordinated Drone Assault Across Sudan

On August 12, 2026 the Sudanese Rapid Support Forces (RSF) renewed its offensive in the Kordofan city of al-Obeid and simultaneously launched a series of drone attacks on Army-controlled locations across the country. Witnesses in al-Obeid reported eight drones striking the city, prompting the Sudanese army’s air-defence systems to engage. Two civilians were killed and additional people injured, according to medical sources. In the capital Khartoum, drones hit a mosque courtyard in the Bahri district and damaged an electricity transformer in the El-Droshab area; similar explosions were heard in Atbara, El-Damer, Tamboul, and the airport at Sifeiya. The RSF did not claim responsibility for the attacks, and the army offered no immediate comment. An Army source said the RSF targeted the airport and Army warehouses in Atbara, fuel depots in Omdurman, and a military airfield in the far south.

The HinduUsNews and World Report

The war between Sudan’s regular military, led by Army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the RSF, commanded by former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (known as Hemedti), began in April 2023 over disagreements about integrating the two forces and preparing for elections. The fighting follows a 2019 uprising that toppled longtime ruler Omar al-Bashir and resulted in a power-sharing arrangement between the army and the RSF. Since then, the front lines have shifted repeatedly, with the army recently gaining ground in Kordofan and the RSF retaining control of Darfur.

UsNews and World Report

Aid workers estimate that more than 200,000 people have been killed since the war’s onset, a figure the United Nations describes as a “war of atrocities.” The conflict has also generated the world’s largest hunger and displacement crises, with half a million residents still living in al-Obeid—about 100,000 of whom were previously displaced. In Khartoum, roughly 2.3 million returnees face unrepaired war damage, limited electricity, and scarce water supplies.

The Hindu

An RSF spokesman, Al-Fatih Qurashi, confirmed via social-media posts that the group targeted the airport and Army warehouses in Atbara, fuel depots in Omdurman, and a southern military airport. A senior Army source described the RSF’s coordinated drone use and said anti-aircraft missiles were fired from the Wadi Seidna base north of Khartoum. The Sudanese army has not issued a formal statement on the August 12 attacks.

The Hindu

The coordinated drone offensive marks the most extensive RSF-led aerial campaign in months, raising concerns of further escalation as both sides amass forces in Kordofan and other contested regions. Humanitarian agencies warn that renewed aerial strikes could exacerbate civilian casualties and impede aid delivery, deepening the already severe displacement and food-security emergencies across Sudan.

UsNews and World Report