Drone Strike on Funerary Procession in Sudan Leaves at Least Four Dead
A drone strike on a funeral procession at a cemetery in the Sudanese city of el‑Obeid on Friday night killed four people and wounded several others, according to rights groups Sudan Doctors Network and Emergency Lawyers.
Both organisations blamed the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for the attack, noting that the incident was part of a string of drone raids that began on Wednesday and have already taken at least 23 lives across the war zone.
El‑Obeid – currently under army control – is a key front in Sudan’s three‑year civil war that erupted after the army’s senior leadership clashed with the RSF over the country’s future governance.
The fighting has precipitated the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with more than 11 million people displaced and 28 million suffering acute food insecurity.
The RSF has not issued a comment on the assault.
In addition to the cemetery attack, Emergency Lawyers reported drones hitting homes in a residential neighbourhood, the airport district and near an army base, killing at least 13 civilians at the homes, with five others killed in earlier strikes.
A lorry carrying food supplies was also struck on Thursday, killing its driver, the groups said.
Experts say control of el‑Obeid translates into control of Sudan’s oil‑rich Kordofan region, a strategic advantage that fuels the fierce contest between the RSF and army.
According to analyst Jane Doe, whoever controls Kordofan effectively controls the country’s oil supply and a significant portion of its territory.
Credit: Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
