Sudan attacks – Artifex.News

Sudan army shoots down RSF drones near Khartoum: military source

admin — Thu, 10 Sep 2026 16:53:00 +0000

Image used for representational purposes only.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Sudan’s army shot down drones belonging to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces on Thursday (September 10, 2026), a military source told AFP, after explosions were heard over the capital Khartoum.

“Our air defences engaged and shot down all of the militia’s drones that attempted to target areas in northern Omdurman,” home to a large military zone and near Khartoum, a military source told AFP.

“None of them achieved their objectives.”

An AFP correspondent in Khartoum heard anti-aircraft fire followed by five explosions early Thursday (September 10) morning.

Last month, the RSF targeted Khartoum with drones over two consecutive days — attacks intercepted by the army.

Since April 2023, the war between the Sudanese army and its paramilitary rival the RSF has killed tens of thousands of people and triggered the world’s largest hunger and displacement crises.

Despite repeated attacks, Khartoum has seen a gradual return to normal life in recent months.

Some 2.3 million displaced people have returned to the capital, reconstruction efforts have begun, and market activity has resumed.

Published – September 10, 2026 10:23 pm IST

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Drone strikes on civilian vehicles kill at least 20 in Sudan, rights groups say

admin — Wed, 08 Jul 2026 17:36:00 +0000

Drone strikes on civilian vehicles headed to social gatherings in Sudan have killed over 20 people in recent days, according to rights groups, as the use of unmanned aircraft becomes increasingly common in the north eastern African country’s war.

A drone hit the outskirts of Khartoum killing 10 civilians, including five women from the same family, as they drove to a wedding, the Sudan Doctors Network said on Wednesday (July 8, 2026).

The medical aid group, which has been tracking violence between the military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces throughout the war — which is in its fourth year — blamed Tuesday’s attack (July 7, 2026) on a road west of Omdurman, the sister city of the capital, Khartoum, on the RSF. All of those on the vehicle, which caught fire, were killed.

The group said that the strike “was deliberate and carried out using a guided drone” and called for the international community to pressure RSF leadership to stop targeting civilians.

A separate drone strike on Tuesday (July 7) hit a transport vehicle near a water facility in the province, killing two people, according to Emergency Lawyers, which tracks violence in Sudan.

The previous day, 13 civilians, including five women, were killed when a drone hit their vehicle as they headed to a wedding in a al-Shaatout town, in North Kordofan province, Emergency Lawyers said.

“This attack is part of an escalating pattern of drone attacks on civilians as drones continue to fly over the northern parts of the province… monitoring residents’ movements,” the group said in a statement.

North Kordofan has seen a surge in drone strikes amid repeated international concerns about the RSF closing in on the strategic city of el-Obeid, which is home to the army’s 5th Infantry Division.

Drone strikes on the city have destroyed civilian infrastructure, including power facilities and neighbourhoods, and targeted bridges and key supply routes, according to the UN.

The war in Sudan, which started in April 2023 after long-simmering tensions between the army and the RSF, has killed at least 59,000 people, displaced some 13 million and pushed many parts of the country into famine. More than 30 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance.

Published – July 08, 2026 11:06 pm IST

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Attacks by Sudanese paramilitary forces in Darfur raise possibility of ‘genocide’ against non-Arab ethnic communities: Human Rights Watch

admin — Thu, 09 May 2024 05:49:13 +0000

Sudanese refugees who fled the violence in Sudan’s Darfur region and newly arrived ride their donkeys looking for space to temporarily settle, near the border between Sudan and Chad in Goungour, Chad. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

“A series of attacks by Sudanese paramilitary forces in the western region of Darfur raise the possibility of “genocide” against non-Arab ethnic communities,” Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on May 9.

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), along with allied militias, have been widely accused of ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity and war crimes in their war with the regular Army, which began in April 2023.

“The war has killed tens of thousands, including up to 15,000 in the West Darfur town of El-Geneina,” according to UN experts.

The area is the focus of the 186-page HRW report “‘The Massalit Will Not Come Home’: Ethnic Cleansing and Crimes Against Humanity in El-Geneina, West Darfur, Sudan.” It describes “an ethnic cleansing campaign against the ethnic Massalit and other non-Arab populations”.

From late April until early November of last year, the RSF and allied militias “conducted a systematic campaign to remove, including by killing, ethnic Massalit residents”, according to HRW.

The violence, which included atrocities such as mass torture, rape and looting, peaked in mid-June — when thousands were killed within days — and surged again in November.

Local human rights lawyers said they had tracked a pattern where fighters targeted “prominent members of the Massalit community”, including doctors, human rights defenders, local leaders and government officials.

HRW added that the attackers “methodically destroyed critical civilian infrastructure”, primarily in communities consisting of displaced Massalit.

Satellite imagery showed that since June, predominantly Massalit neighbourhoods in El-Geneina have been “systematically dismantled, many with bulldozers, preventing civilians who fled from returning to their homes”, HRW reported.

HRW said the attacks constitute “ethnic cleansing” as they appeared to be aimed at “at least having them permanently leave the region”.

The context of the killings further “raises the possibility that the RSF and their allies have the intent to destroy in whole or in part the Massalit in at least West Darfur, which would indicate that genocide has been and/or is being committed there”, it added.

‘Large-scale atrocities’

HRW called for an investigation into genocidal intent, targeted sanctions on those responsible and urged the United Nations to “widen the existing arms embargo on Darfur to cover all of Sudan”.

The International Criminal Court, currently investigating ethnic-based killings in Darfur, says it has “grounds to believe” that both the Paramilitaries and the Army are committing “Rome Statute crimes”, which include war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

And in December, the United States said that Sudan’s rival forces have both committed war crimes in their brutal conflict, accusing the RSF of ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.

“More than half a million Sudanese have fled the violence from Darfur into Chad, according to the latest UN figures. By late October, 75% of those crossing the border were from El-Geneina,” HRW said.

Around 400 km (250 miles) east of El-Geneina, all eyes are currently on El-Fasher in North Darfur, the only state capital not under RSF control. The United States has warned of a disaster of “epic proportions” if the RSF proceeds with an expected attack, as residents fear the same fate of El-Geneina will befall them.

“As the UN Security Council and governments wake up to the looming disaster in El-Fasher, the large-scale atrocities committed in El-Geneina should be seen as a reminder of the atrocities that could come in the absence of concerted action,” said HRW executive director Tirana Hassan.

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