Drone Attacks Intensify in Central Sudan
- Residents in al‑Obeid reported increasingly frequent drone strikes as the RSF continued expanding its control across the wider Kordofan region (Reuters)
Published by CFR's Wachenheim Center for Peace and Security
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Civil War in Sudan
CAR-Sudan Border Opens New Engagement Front
- Isolated communities in the Central African Republic’s remote border region with Sudan are facing an influx of refugees, sparking land-based tensions with locals as newly-arrived Sudanese seek work and education opportunities in the face of limited resources (UN)
UN Chief Decries Rights Violations in First Visit Since War
- Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, railed against corrupted humanitarian funding, widespread violence against civilians, and “the increasing militarization of society by all parties to the conflict” (Al Jazeera)
UN Refugee Commissioner Commends Chad
- Barham Salih, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, applauded N’Djamena’s “generous welcome of refugees” from Sudan as the number of Sudanese refugees in neighboring Chad approaches one million (UN)
Twenty-Seven Dead in RSF Drone Strike
- RSF forces struck a Sudanese army base in the capital of Sudan’s southeastern Sennar state, killing dozens in a move that came just days after Sudan’s military government announced it would return to Khartoum (Al Jazeera)
SAF Advances Kordofan Mission
- Generals in Sudan’s army are increasing strikes and shifting troop placements in an effort to regain territory in the central Kordofan region, a key corridor between Khartoum and Sudan’s embattled east (Al Jazeera)
Sudan’s Government Returns to Khartoum
- After nearly three years of operating from Port Sudan, Sudan’s government returned to the capital, Khartoum (BBC)
War Reaches 1,000 Day Mark
- Forced to flee rampant drone strikes and ethnically-motivated violence, Darfur’s last doctors described a lawless environment, famine, and acute civilian suffering in Sudan’s war-torn eastern regions (ABC)
- Over the past two and a half years of war, near-constant fighting has displaced 12 million people and resulted in the deaths of 150,000 more (Semafor)
Women Describe Rape, Sexual Slavery in Darfur
- Survivors of sexual assault in eastern Sudan report widespread rape, assault, and forced enslavement at the hands of violent militants; medical sources have documented over a dozen cases of infant rape (Al Jazeera)
Drone Strikes Home in al-Obeid
- The strike killed thirteen people, including eight children; no group claimed responsibility, but local medics alleged the RSF carried out the attack (BBC)
Darfur Fighting Kills 114 People
- Medical sources report that intense fighting in Sudan’s Darfur region has killed at least 114 people in two separate drone attacks over the past week (France24)
Sudan Exceeds Annual Gold Target
- Even as war rages across the country, Sudan’s government said it produced seventy tons of gold—its chief source of hard currency—last year; the statistics exceeded Khartoum’s goal by 13 percent (Jerusalem Post)
UNICEF: Half of Darfur’s Children Malnourished
- Child human rights experts at the UN reported that 53 percent of the children they surveyed in North Darfur state were severely malnourished as famine continues to threaten the besieged Darfur region (Al Jazeera)
“Stomachs Are Empty” as RSF, SAF Fight Rages
- Civilians and observers described acute hunger, deserted towns, and continuous violence in eastern Sudan as the country’s rival militia leaders indicated there is no end in sight to the years-long conflict (Al Jazeera)
China Pulls Sudan Oil Holdings
- According to a Beijing-affiliated think tank, China divested its last oil holdings in Sudan amid ongoing attacks on oil fields across the country (China-Global South Project)
Drone Attack Kills Two Chadian Soldiers Near Sudan Border
- A drone strike on a military camp near Sudan’s border killed two Chadian soldiers; while Chadian intelligence claimed the drone originated from Sudan, it remains unclear whether the RSF or the Sudanese Armed Forces were responsible (Reuters)
Sudanese Official Rules Out Negotiations or Truce With RSF
- A senior Sudanese official declared that there would be no negotiations or ceasefire with the RSF; the comment came days after the prime minister outlined a plan to end the war (Al Jazeera)
Measles Cases Heighten Darfur Crisis
- In Darfur—which the UN described as “the epicenter of human suffering in the world”—Doctors Without Borders personnel reported a measles outbreak is overwhelming hospitals and endangering children (Al Jazeera)
El-Fasher’s Refugees Detail Violence, Terror
- At underfunded, overcrowded camps in eastern Chad, refugees from Sudan’s embattled Darfur region have described civilian executions, arbitrary detention, and rampant hunger in besieged El-Fasher (NYT)
Washington Aiming for RSF, SAF Truce
- As fighters in Sudan’s central Kordofan region continue to kill civilians, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the new year would present a “great opportunity” for military leaders to agree to a pause in fighting (Al Jazeera)
UN Report: Over Three Hundred Executed in RSF’s April Attack
- The UN attributed at least 319 deaths during an RSF siege on a Darfur refugee camp in April to summary execution, compounding existing accounts of torture, sexual violence, and abduction (CBC)
Drone Strike Hits Major Power Plant
- A drone strike on a major power plant in eastern Sudan caused widespread electricity outages across Khartoum and Port Sudan; power plant officials claimed that the RSF carried out the attack, which killed at least two civil defense members (Al Jazeera)
Yale Researchers: RSF Covering Tracks in El-Fasher
- Satellite imagery analysis from Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab purports to show RSF forces engaging in a systematic campaign to destroy evidence of mass killings, including through mass burials and burnings (Yale Humanitarian Research Lab)
UN Peacekeepers Targeted in Drone Attack
- A drone strike in Kadugli killed six UN peacekeepers and injured eight others; according to UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Khan, it remains unclear who conducted the attack (UN)
Attack Kills Six Bangladeshi UN Peacekeepers
- Bangladesh, one of the top troop suppliers for UN peacekeeping missions, reported at least six of its personnel died in a drone strike on a UN base in a disputed area between Sudan and South Sudan (BBC)
- UN Secretary General António Guterres denounced the attack, which Sudan’s armed forces pinned on the RSF (Al Jazeera)