Sudan’s civil war escalated sharply on Friday as the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) launched deadly drone and artillery strikes on the strategic city of El-Obeid, killing six people and wounding 12 at a hospital, even as cholera spreads rapidly through the capital, Khartoum.
Military officials said the RSF targeted the Social Insurance Hospital in El-Obeid with a drone strike and simultaneously shelled nearby residential neighborhoods with heavy artillery. A second hospital in the city centre was also struck, with El-Obeid’s main medical facility confirming the casualties.
Located around 400 kilometres southwest of Khartoum, El-Obeid was under RSF siege for nearly two years before Sudanese army forces recaptured it in February. Since then, it has remained a critical supply hub for the military, especially in its defense of El-Fasher — the last state capital in Darfur still under army control.
Tensions remain high along the corridor linking El-Obeid to El-Fasher. On Thursday, the RSF announced it had retaken the nearby town of Al-Khoei, which the army had recently reclaimed.
The war between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, once allies erupted in April 2023 and has devastated Sudan. Tens of thousands have been killed, more than 13 million displaced, and the United Nations has called it the world’s largest hunger and displacement crisis.
While fighting rages in the south and west, Khartoum is grappling with a worsening cholera outbreak, worsened by infrastructure collapse and critical medical shortages. At Bashair Hospital, doctors from Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) are racing to treat patients under dire conditions.
“We are using all available means to limit its spread and treat infected patients,” said Dr. Hamad Adel of MSF.
Patients lie on rusted metal beds inside stifling tents turned into makeshift isolation wards. AFPTV footage showed emaciated children crowded in one section as doctors worked in extreme heat and with limited supplies.
The outbreak has been blamed on RSF drone strikes earlier this month that knocked out power stations in Khartoum, cutting off access to clean water for millions. Cholera, a waterborne disease that is easily preventable and treatable with basic sanitation and care, has turned deadly in the current conditions.
According to the Sudanese doctors’ union, up to 90% of hospitals in active combat zones have shut down at some point since the conflict began, leaving the already fragile health system on the brink of collapse.
As the humanitarian crisis deepens, civilians across Sudan remain caught between bombs, disease, and hunger — with no clear end to the conflict in sight.
