RSF drone attack kills 27 in southeast Sudan: Report

Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces attacks an service basal successful the southeastern metropolis of Sinja with drones.

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has killed 27 radical successful a reported drone onslaught connected a Sudanese service basal successful the southeastern metropolis of Sinja, a subject root told Al Jazeera.

Monday’s onslaught coincided with an announcement a time anterior that the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) would beryllium returning to the capital, Khartoum, 3 years aft it had shifted its basal of operations to Port Sudan.

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The SAF and the RSF person been locked successful a brutal civilian warfare since April 2023, with Khartoum serving arsenic a cardinal country of dispute.

The subject source, who spoke to Al Jazeera connected information of anonymity, said Monday’s drone onslaught targeted not lone leaders successful the authorities forces but besides the information teams and civilians accompanying them.

It was unclear however galore radical were wounded successful the attack.

Al Jazeera received reports that 13 radical were injured, portion immoderate estimates person enactment the fig overmuch higher. The AFP quality bureau enactment the full astatine 73 wounded, citing subject and wellness sources.

Qamar al-Din Fadl al-Mawla, the politician of Sudan’s White Nile state, was among the officials successful Sinja astatine the clip of the attack, according to a authorities statement. While helium survived, 2 of his colleagues were reportedly killed.

Sinja, the superior of Sennar state, is located on a cardinal way to Khartoum, immoderate 300km (180 miles) to the north.

It besides houses the office of the SAF’s 17th Infantry Division, which was the evident people of Monday’s attack.

RSF advisor Al-Basha Tibiq indicated connected the societal media level Facebook that the drone onslaught was intended to nonstop a informing to the Sudanese subject leaders.

However, Salah Adam Abdullah, a spokesperson for the Sennar authorities government, described the SAF arsenic repelling the drone attack. “The army’s anti-aircraft defences dealt with it,” helium said.

He added that the shelling resulted successful losses and injuries among civilians, but that beingness has present returned to mean successful the city.

Despite its strategical presumption arsenic an artery to the government-controlled east, Sinja has mostly avoided the worst of the warring since the Sudanese subject regained power successful 2024. Sennar authorities was past targeted by drones successful October.

The civilian warfare is present midway done its 3rd year, with the SAF renewing efforts for an operation to retake the Kordofan and Darfur regions from the RSF.

The SAF said connected Friday it had inflicted dense losses connected the RSF during a bid of aerial and crushed operations successful the 2 regions, pushing RSF fighters retired of immoderate areas and sidesplitting hundreds more.

On Sunday, Sudan’s Prime Minister Kamil Idris announced the government’s instrumentality to Khartoum, aft the army recaptured the metropolis successful May. The authorities has pursued a gradual instrumentality successful the months since.

In the aboriginal days of the civilian war, the RSF took power of the capital, forcing the army-aligned authorities to flee. Port Sudan has served arsenic the government’s wartime superior successful the meantime.

Fierce warring and planetary backing cuts person pushed much than 21 cardinal radical successful Sudan — astir 45 percent of the colonisation — towards starvation successful what has go 1 of the world’s severest humanitarian crises, according to the United Nations.

On Friday, the warfare deed its 1,000th day. The struggle has forced an estimated 13.6 cardinal radical from their homes, creating the world’s largest displacement crisis, according to the UN.