Suicide drones launched by the Rapid Support Forces targeted the home of Blue Nile Regional Governor Ahmed Badi in Damazin on Saturday, causing material damage to the home without injuring the governor.
Damazin Target of Repeated Drone Strikes
Residents reported hearing multiple loud explosions echoing through Damazin in the predawn hours before defensive batteries engaged the incoming ordnance. Local eyewitnesses indicated that the aerial assault marked the third time within roughly two weeks that the regional capital had faced drone attacks from the Rapid Support Forces. Previous strikes in mid-September targeted fuel stations and military installations in the area, causing casualties and stoking widespread panic among civilians.
Simultaneous Ethnic Killings Reported in North Kordofan
While authorities assessed the damage in Damazin, human rights monitors raised alarms over a separate, much deadlier incident hundreds of kilometers to the west. The Sudan Doctors Network announced that the Rapid Support Forces had killed more than 25 civilians in the Um Bader area of North Kordofan state. According to the medical group, preliminary video evidence indicates the executions were carried out along ethnic lines and justified by accusations that the victims sympathized with the Sudanese army.
The liquidation of civilians outside the law represents a grave crime and a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and human rights rules.
Sudan Doctors Network, via Aljazeera
The network warned that perpetrators filming and publishing their own abuses reflects an alarming disregard for human life and accountability. International human rights organizations have faced mounting pressure to launch an independent investigation into the North Kordofan killings to prevent further retaliatory violence against vulnerable communities.
Strategic Shifts on the Battlefield
The latest wave of aerial and ground attacks unfolds against a shifting military backdrop across Sudan’s western and central provinces. The Sudanese army announced that its forces had secured control of Mazroub, a major stronghold for the Rapid Support Forces in North Kordofan, following fierce engagements. Military spokespeople described the capture as a crucial turning point designed to sever primary supply routes linking North Kordofan and West Kordofan states.
Military units have expanded their footprint across the region since late July, reclaiming the strategic transport hub of Bara as well as Jabra al-Sheikh and Umm Sayyal to secure the highway connecting western regions to Omdurman. The ongoing civil conflict, which erupted in April 2023 over disputes regarding the integration of the Rapid Support Forces into the regular military, has displaced millions of people and left tens of thousands dead while pushing large segments of the population toward famine.
