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Drone strike kills 40 at funeral in Sudan's North Kordofan
El-Obeid, Sudan - At least 40 civilians were killed in a drone attack on a funeral gathering outside the army-controlled city of el-Obeid on Monday, according to local officials and activists. The strike, attributed to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), targeted mourners assembled in a tent in al-Luweib village, 15 km east of el-Obeid. Many victims died before reaching hospitals in the strategic city, which serves as a key link between Khartoum and western Darfur.
Escalating violence in oil-rich Kordofan
The attack follows intensified clashes in North Kordofan, where the RSF recently seized Bara town-30 km north of el-Obeid-displacing around 20,000 people last week. The fall of Bara coincided with the RSF's capture of el-Fasher, the army's last stronghold in Darfur, where reports of mass killings, sexual violence, and looting have since emerged.
The UN confirmed summary executions of civilians by RSF fighters in Bara, while the International Criminal Court (ICC) warned that such atrocities could constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity. The RSF has denied allegations of ethnically motivated violence but pledged to investigate reported "violations."
Humanitarian crisis deepens
A global food security network declared on Monday that el-Fasher's residents are suffering from famine after an 18-month RSF siege. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) also classified Kadugli, in South Kordofan, as facing catastrophic hunger. The city, 300 km south of el-Obeid, has been encircled and cut off from supplies by the RSF.
"El-Fasher and surrounding areas... have been an epicenter of suffering, hunger, violence, and displacement-and since the RSF entered el-Fasher last weekend, the situation is worsening daily," UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in Doha.
AFP
Guterres urged both the army and RSF to negotiate an end to the conflict, calling Sudan's crisis "horrifying and spiraling out of control."
Failed peace efforts
Despite international pressure, including a US proposal for a truce, multiple rounds of peace talks in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain have collapsed. Both sides have repeatedly refused ceasefire agreements. A Sudanese government source told AFP that authorities are reviewing the US plan, though no breakthrough is imminent.
Mohamed Ismail, North Kordofan's humanitarian aid commissioner, confirmed the drone strike's toll: "Drones belonging to the RSF militia attacked citizens at a funeral, killing 40 and injuring dozens," he told the Sudan Tribune.
Conflict toll
Since the civil war erupted in April 2023 between the army and RSF, over 150,000 people have died and 12 million have been displaced-the world's largest humanitarian crisis, per the UN. El-Obeid, already strained by displaced populations, faces worsening conditions as violence spreads.
