File Photo: Sudan's military chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, center, is greeted by troops as he arrives at the Republican Palace, recently recaptured from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group, in Khartoum, Sudan. AP
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 defenses 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 agreed to a humanitarian truce proposed by a U.S.-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 gives 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 Program.
The U.S.-led plan for a truce would start with a three-month humanitarian truce followed by a nine-month political process, said Massad Boulos, a U.S. adviser for African affairs, earlier this week.
Also on Friday, the U.N.’s top human rights body announced it will hold an emergency special session on Sudan on 14 November to address recent bloodshed and other violence committed by the RSF against civilians in and around the Darfur city of El-Fasher.
The call for the special session by the Human Rights Council in Geneva was led by Britain, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Norway and has drawn support from two dozen council members in the 47-member-country rights body so far.
The RSF’s announcement that it agreed to the truce comes more than a week after the group seized El-Fasher city, which had been under siege for over 18 months. It was also the last Sudanese military stronghold in Sudan’s western Darfur region.
Since seizing the city, the RSF militia—accused of genocide and crimes against humanity—has intensified its campaign of mass killings, looting, and sexual violence. In recent days, the paramilitary group has turned its attention to the neighboring Kordofan region, where violent clashes are rapidly escalating.
In a report released Thursday, UNICEF said more than 81,000 people have been displaced from El-Fasher since 26 October, highlighting the growing needs for shelter, food, water, and medical care, while aid deliveries remain severely limited.
UNICEF also reported identifying over 850 children suffering from acute malnutrition, all of whom are now receiving treatment. The U.N. agency added that violence, sexual assaults, and the looting of health facilities remain widespread across North Darfur, with women and children bearing the brunt of the crisis.
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