The drone attack on a funeral procession in el-Obeid, North Kordofan, on Wednesday evening marked the latest in a series of indiscriminate strikes that rights groups say have killed at least 23 people in the city. The Sudan Doctors Network and Emergency Lawyers stated that at least four mourners died and several were wounded when a drone targeted the cemetery. Both organisations attributed the strike to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the paramilitary group locked in a bitter power struggle with the Sudanese Armed Forces.

El-Obeid, currently under army control, has become a pivotal flashpoint in the three-year civil war. Viewed from Nairobi, the city’s role as a logistical hub linking Khartoum to the western Darfur region makes it a strategic prize. The RSF’s use of drones, particularly against civilian gatherings, signals a tactical shift towards asymmetric warfare designed to erode morale and destabilise army-held areas. The paramilitary group has not commented on the accusations.

The war’s civilian toll extends far beyond el-Obeid. The United Nations describes Sudan as the world’s most severe humanitarian catastrophe, with over 11 million people displaced and nearly half the population—some 28 million—reliant on aid. Analysts in London note that the fighting between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo has systematically dismantled healthcare, agriculture and trade, pushing the country towards famine.

Diplomatically, the conflict remains intractable. Mediation efforts led by the United States and Saudi Arabia have stalled, while regional powers pursue divergent interests. Observers in Addis Ababa warn that without a unified international pressure strategy, the war risks fragmenting Sudan along ethnic and territorial lines, with drone strikes on soft targets becoming a grim fixture of the landscape. For now, the funeral attack in el-Obeid stands as a stark illustration of a war that continues to escalate in brutality and scope.