Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) shelled the southern city of El-Obeid on Friday, striking residential areas and two hospitals, according to eyewitnesses and a military source.
“The militia launched an artillery assault on civilian neighbourhoods,” a source within the army told AFP, noting that both the Social Insurance Hospital and the army hospital in the city had been hit.
Local residents near the Social Insurance Hospital confirmed that it was targeted during the shelling.
El-Obeid, situated around 400 kilometres southwest of Khartoum and capital of North Kordofan state, had been under RSF siege for nearly two years until the Sudanese army successfully lifted the blockade in February. That operation was part of a broader counteroffensive which also saw the army regain control of Khartoum earlier this year. Despite this, El-Obeid continues to face shelling from RSF forces.
The city plays a crucial logistical role for the army, serving as a key link in the supply route to the west. El-Fasher, currently under army control, remains the last state capital in the Darfur region not held by the RSF.
Clashes between the army and RSF have intensified in recent weeks along the strategic corridor connecting El-Obeid and El-Fasher. On Thursday, RSF forces claimed to have recaptured Al-Khoei, a town approximately 100 kilometres west of El-Obeid, which had been retaken by the army earlier this month.
The ongoing war between the RSF and the Sudanese army, which erupted in April 2023, has led to the deaths of tens of thousands and displaced around 13 million people. According to the United Nations, the conflict has triggered the world’s largest hunger and displacement crisis.
Sudan is now effectively split, with the army controlling central, eastern, and northern regions, while the RSF and its allies dominate almost all of Darfur and parts of the south.
