RSF Pounds El Obeid With Drones for Months as U.S. Warns of El Fasher-Style Atrocities
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Aug 14
RSF Pounds El Obeid With Drones for Months as U.S. Warns of El Fasher-Style Atrocities
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Aug 14
Summary
Months of RSF drone strikes have targeted El Obeid in south-central Sudan as the paramilitary force tries to wrest the city from the Sudanese Army.
El Obeid is a strategic prize because a highway through the city links Darfur to eastern Sudan, and a major pipeline there carries oil through Kordofan to Port Sudan on the Red Sea.
June warnings from the U.S. State Department said RSF was massing around the city and that atrocities could follow if it captures El Obeid; the U.N. and African Union have echoed that alarm.
Last October's RSF seizure of El Fasher, where the U.N. said massacres bore the hallmarks of genocide, has become the main benchmark for fears over El Obeid.
Since the war began in April 2023, about 14 million people have been displaced and some estimates put the death toll at 400,000, underscoring the stakes of another major urban battle.
El Obeid Under Siege: The Battle for Sudan’s Strategic Crossroads and the Humanitarian Catastrophe Facing Over 1 Million Civilians (August 2026)
Overview
El Obeid has become the focal point of Sudan’s civil war, sitting at a vital crossroads between government and RSF territories and serving as a key logistics hub. The conflict has escalated into intense drone warfare, with both sides using foreign-supplied drones and targeting critical infrastructure, leaving civilians without power, water, or medical care. As formal systems collapsed, residents built a survival economy and mutual aid networks to cope. Despite some military gains by the SAF, the RSF’s persistent attacks and foreign backing keep the city under threat, while diplomatic efforts remain stalled and humanitarian needs grow more desperate.