Lead
In the Sudanese city of El Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan, drone attacks by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have caused widespread damage to civilian infrastructure, including power grids, transformers, water treatment plants, schools, universities, and hospitals. Footage published by Ayin Network, a nonpartisan Sudanese media outlet, shows flattened houses and rubble where a school once stood. The city, once home to half a million people and now also sheltering several hundred thousand internally displaced persons (IDPs), is under siege, according to Ahmed Awad, a project manager for the UK children's rights organization Plan International and a native of El Obeid.
Coverage comparison
Two reports from Deutsche Welle detail the humanitarian crisis in El Obeid, focusing on the impact of RSF drone attacks and the siege conditions. Both accounts rely on firsthand observations from Ahmed Awad and describe the severe shortages of medical supplies, food, and safe water. One report adds the perspective of Adam Mousa Eshag and includes the detail that Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) soldiers have used schools and hospitals as barracks, making them targets for RSF attacks. The other report notes the long lines at water pumps and the role of children in fetching water, as well as the ongoing food crisis across Sudan.
Key claims
According to the reports, a drone struck a primary school in El Obeid, killing three children and causing trauma among other students. Many children no longer dare go to school, and one mother told Awad that three of her children cannot sleep because they are always in fear of something happening again. Plan International is providing psychosocial support to children who fear that a drone could hit their classroom at any moment.
El Obeid is described as a strategically important trading hub in the middle of the desert, located on the only major route between Sudan's capital, Khartoum, and the western Darfur region. The city is currently controlled by the army, with 13,000 soldiers stationed there. The RSF has deployed troops 30 kilometers beyond the city limits and is using drones to bomb civilian infrastructure, according to the reports.
Separately, the reports state that the Sudanese army has launched a new offensive in Kordofan from Khartoum and says it has taken control of the 360-kilometer-long highway linking Omdurman, Khartoum's twin city, with El Obeid. RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo has told his commanders to launch counteroffensives at their own discretion.
The reports do not indicate any alternative explanation for the attacks or the siege conditions beyond the actions of the RSF and the use of civilian infrastructure by the SAF.