The Sudanese army intercepted drones fired overnight by its rival paramilitary group on two cities in Sudan’s northeast, a military official said on Friday. The army official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to freely discuss the matter, said 15 drones targeted Atbara, a city north of the capital, in River Nile province. He confirmed that strikes caused no casualties. Local media reports said residents heard explosions. The official added that ground defences intercepted a smaller-scale drone attack that also targeted Omdruman, the sister city of the capital Khartoum. The RSF drone strikes come a day after the group announced that it agree to a humanitarian truce proposed by a US-led mediator group known as the Quad.
A Sudanese military official told The Associated Press on Thursday that the army welcomes the Quad’s proposal but will only agree to a truce when the RSF completely withdraws from civilian areas and give up weapons per previous peace proposals. The war between the RSF and the military began in 2023, when tensions erupted between the two former allies that were meant to oversee a democratic transition after a 2019 uprising. The fighting has killed at least 40,000 people, according to the WHO and displaced 12 million. However, aid groups say the true death toll could be many times higher. Over 24 million people are also facing acute food insecurity, according to the World Food Programme.
