Port Sudan – December 13, 2025 (Correspondents)
The city of Al-Obeid in North Kordofan State witnessed a new drone strike on Saturday the second in as many days leaving civilians dead and injured at the city’s northern entrance.
Field sources reported that two people were killed and around ten others injured when a drone targeted commercial vehicles, including a truck and a small car, moving through the area. The incident underscores the widening and increasingly lethal use of drones in Sudan’s conflict, raising new concerns over civilian safety in densely populated regions.
Eyewitnesses Describe Scene of Chaos
According to local witnesses, a drone allegedly belonging to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) targeted a commercial truck and a small vehicle identified as a Hyundai “Atos.”
The car’s driver and a passenger were killed instantly, while several others sustained injuries of varying severity. Witnesses described flames and thick black smoke billowing from the burning truck after the explosion, as rescue teams rushed to the scene to evacuate the wounded and move them to Al-Obeid Teaching Hospital.
Residents near the strike area said the attack occurred at the city’s entrance, hitting vehicles as they passed a commercial corridor often crowded with traders and travelers. “The fire was intense, and people panicked,” one eyewitness said. “It was shocking to see such an attack inside the city limits.”
A Pattern of Escalation
Saturday’s attack followed a similar drone strike on Friday that hit the Tayba neighborhood, southeast of Al-Obeid, killing two civilians and wounding several others, some critically. Victims from that incident are still receiving treatment at hospitals across the city.
The back-to-back drone strikes mark a noticeable escalation in RSF operations across North Kordofan, suggesting a deliberate expansion of air-based tactics previously concentrated in South Kordofan and Darfur. Analysts say this shift signals the intensification of urban warfare, with combat increasingly spilling into civilian spaces.
Mounting Civilian Suffering and Strain on Hospitals
Sources confirmed that medical facilities in Al-Obeid are facing severe pressure due to the rising number of casualties from repeated attacks. Local doctors reported shortages in emergency supplies and blood units, complicating the treatment of burn victims and trauma cases.
Residents describe a growing sense of fear and uncertainty amid persistent drone activity, with many families fleeing neighborhoods hit in recent days.
“These attacks are devastating the community,” said a local aid volunteer. “People can’t predict where or when the next strike will come.”
A Deepening Crisis in North Kordofan
The renewed violence mirrors broader military tensions across central and western Sudan, where the RSF and the Sudanese army continue a destructive struggle for territorial control. North Kordofan, previously viewed as a strategic buffer zone, has increasingly become a theater of active combat, exposing civilians to direct harm.
Observers warn that these developments could push the region closer to humanitarian collapse, as continued bombardments disrupt transport, trade routes, and relief operations.
The recurrent drone strikes—once rare in the area—now highlight how Sudan’s war is evolving into a high-technology conflict that blurs the line between military and civilian targets.
