Sudan War: The range of drones ignites the heart of cities
The pace of the war in Sudan is accelerating, with operations expanding on land and in the air, as a new round of negotiations in Switzerland approaches, at the invitation of the United States.
Military sources said that two drones attacked government headquarters in the city of Al-Damer, the capital of Nile River State in northern Sudan, last night, while a third targeted a Sudanese army headquarters in the city of Rabak, the capital of White Nile State in the south of the country. According to military sources, the drones were launched by the Rapid Support Forces in a direct attack on the government headquarters of Nile River State in the city of Al-Damer in northern Sudan.
Eyewitnesses said that they heard loud explosions at the government site in Al-Damer, about 310 kilometers north of the Sudanese capital Khartoum.
According to military sources, the ground defenses dealt with the suicide drones and shot them down, resulting in a fire in the building of the Ministry of Local Government and the Secretariat of the government.
Sources also said that a civil defense force immediately arrived to extinguish the fires that broke out on the top floor of the Ministry of Local Government after the drones were shot down.
Approach of “Aggression and Terrorism”
For its part, the Security Committee of the Nile River Government said that advanced defenses “managed to shoot down two suicide drones that attacked the city of Al-Damer, the capital of the state.”
According to the statement, one drone crashed on top of the local government building, and the other hit the wall of the headquarters without causing any injuries or casualties, while the attack resulted in limited fires that were immediately dealt with by the civil defense police.
The area targeted by the drones in Al-Damer includes the government secretariat, most ministries, the headquarters of the General Intelligence Service, the police headquarters, and Al-Damer Teaching Hospital.
White Nile
Military sources said that another drone targeted a work camp in the city of Rabak, the capital of White Nile State, about 400 kilometers south of Khartoum.
The sources explained that the ground defenses of the Sudanese army successfully dealt with the drone and prevented it from reaching its target.
The Rapid Support Forces did not immediately comment on these accusations.
For months, accusations have been leveled against the Rapid Support Forces for targeting cities controlled by the Sudanese army with drones.
The army had previously reported that the drones belonging to the Rapid Support Forces targeted the cities of Al-Qadarif, Al-Faw, and Al-Shawak in eastern Sudan, Shendi and Atbara in the Nile River State, Merowe in the Northern State, and Kosti and Kenana in White Nile State, and Al-Managil in Al-Jazirah State.
Escalation in Al-Fasher
With the escalation of violence, the government of North Darfur State announced late Monday that about 60 people had been killed and dozens injured due to heavy artillery shelling by the Rapid Support Forces in the city of Al-Fasher for the third consecutive day.
For three consecutive days, the city of Al-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur State, has been subjected to heavy attacks by the artillery of the Rapid Support Forces and drones, resulting in a large number of civilian deaths and extensive damage to infrastructure.
The governor of Darfur region, Minni Arko Minnawi, said that the “Rapid Support Forces decided to enter negotiations with the blood of innocents after bombing civilian gatherings in mosques and hospitals, especially the Saudi hospital.”
In a tweet on the social media platform X, he added, “Today is one of the bloodiest days in Al-Fasher.”
The Rapid Support Forces did not comment on these accusations either.
The continued targeting of Al-Fasher with heavy weapons is part of the Rapid Support Forces‘ plans to take control of the city, which is crowded with war victims, as the last site in the Darfur region not under their control.
A statement issued by the government of North Darfur State mentioned that “in the past three days, more than 60 people have been killed and more than 100 citizens injured in Al-Fasher due to artillery shelling by the Rapid Support Forces.”
The statement accused the Rapid Support Forces of “deliberately targeting markets, residential neighborhoods, and service facilities.”
The Coordinating Committee of the Resistance Committees in Al-Fasher (activists) reported that the Rapid Support Forces continued shelling sites inside the city of Al-Fasher for the third day, targeting homes of citizens, hospitals, and shelter centers.
They explained that “the crowded city was bombed with about 70 rockets within a few hours today, and the number of victims documented by the Coordination in the past three days amounted to about 43 children, 13 women, and 9 men.”
The Rapid Support Forces usually deny these accusations.
Catastrophic Humanitarian Crisis
The ongoing war in Sudan since mid-April 2023 has created the largest humanitarian crisis on an international level, as people in Darfur have been forced to eat animal feed and tree leaves due to the lack of food in the 51 displacement camps in the five states of Darfur.
Since mid-April 2023, the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces have been engaged in a war that has resulted in about 15,000 deaths and more than 8 million displaced and refugees, according to the United Nations.
The warring parties in Sudan are preparing for a round of negotiations in Switzerland in mid-next month, at the invitation of the United States and with broad international support, in hopes of paving the way to alleviating the humanitarian crisis.
