Four Sudanese civilians were killed and eight others injured on Wednesday as a result of artillery shelling carried out by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on the northern neighborhoods of El Obeid city in North Kordofan state. According to the Sudan Doctors Network, the shelling also caused widespread destruction to several residential buildings. The Network condemned the RSF’s targeting of residential areas and civilian gathering spots in El Obeid, describing it as a clear violation of humanitarian and international laws.
The Network stated that the artillery attacks exclusively targeted residential neighborhoods, leading to a rise in the number of casualties in El Obeid. It called on the international community to exert serious pressure on the RSF leadership and its supporters to halt violations against civilians.
The statement stressed the need to compel the RSF to stop artillery shelling directed at unarmed civilians, noting that such actions have continued in Darfur, Kordofan, and Khartoum. The Network also demanded an end to attacks on infrastructure and civilian facilities, as well as the lifting of the siege imposed on El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, since last May. The city has been subjected to intense artillery bombardment, resulting in large numbers of civilian deaths.
Meanwhile, the Dinka Abyei Coordination Committee announced that the Abyei area in the south of the country has faced repeated RSF assaults targeting civilians in recent days. The committee confirmed the killing of several residents in the area and accused the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) of complicity with the RSF.
Darfur Governor: RSF Suffered Losses in West Kordofan
The committee held both the RSF and UNISFA forces responsible for all violations and called for urgent action from regional and international bodies to condemn these grave crimes. It also urged the government to withdraw and revoke the mandate under which UNISFA was deployed, accusing the force of lacking neutrality and failing to protect the region and its civilians.
On June 27, 2011, the UN Security Council established the joint African Union-United Nations peacekeeping mission (UNISFA) to protect Abyei after the secession of South Sudan, with a mandate to monitor the tense border and facilitate humanitarian aid, as well as to use force to protect civilians and humanitarian workers in Abyei. The mission was established after the Addis Ababa agreement between the Sudanese government and the Sudan Liberation Army, which demilitarized Abyei and allowed Ethiopian forces to monitor the area.
Separately, Darfur Regional Governor Minni Arko Minnawi stated that RSF forces suffered heavy losses during a recent attempt to attack Al-Khuwei city in West Kordofan. He explained that the last RSF reserve in West Kordofan attacked army and allied joint forces in Al-Khuwei in a new attempt to retake the city, adding: “Our forces taught them a lesson-none remained to remember or forget.”
On Sunday, the Sudanese army regained control of Al-Khuwei in West Kordofan and Umm Sumayyah in North Kordofan. These cities form part of the RSF’s supply corridor from Darfur through Kordofan and other central states to the capital, Khartoum.
Subsequent RSF attacks on the city followed, with military sources confirming days of fierce battles, culminating in what they described as a “decisive” confrontation on Wednesday
