Fighitng intensifies in Kordofan area as drone strikes increase

1 June 2025

The pace of military battles between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) is intensifying in the Kordofan region. Several recent advances in these states by the RSF were achieved through the increased use of drones, military sources told Ayin.

Recent clashes in the areas of Al-Khuwei and Al-Dibeibat in West and South Kordofan states have caused residents to flee toward the city of El-Obeid under dire humanitarian conditions. Dozens of families remain stranded along the roads, having lost contact with their relatives due to a telecommunications and internet blackout in the region.

According to local sources who spoke with Ayin, the RSF retook control of the towns of Al-Dibeibat and Al-Khuwei and advanced towards El-Obeid following fierce battles last Thursday and Friday.

In a press release, the RSF stated that it had taken control of the towns of Al-Khuwei and Umm Sumaymah in North and West Kordofan along the Western Salvation Road leading to El-Fasher. They also announced control over the towns of Al-Dibeibat, Al-Hammadi, and Kazgil in South Kordofan, along the asphalt road leading to the cities of Dilling and Al-Fula. The RSF published video footage showing its soldiers at landmarks in these towns. Meanwhile, the army has not issued any comment on the battles.

Drones

An RSF soldier told Ayin that their forces used drones during the battles in Al-Dibeibat and Al-Khuwei to strike the army’s and joint force’s fortifications.

The fighter, who requested anonymity, said the joint Darfur movements’ force had initially gained the upper hand in previous battles due to their use of armoured combat vehicles, having entered Al-Khuwei with more than one armoured car. However, RSF forces were able to regain control after military reinforcements arrived from western regions, supported by drones.

Drones may have been a decisive factor in the recent Kordofan battles. According to military sources who spoke to Ayin, drone strikes likely killed the entire command team of the army’s mobile convoys in the Kordofan region.

Ayin confirmed the death of the general commander of the army’s mobile convoys in Kordofan, Major General Ihab Mohamed Youssef, and his deputy, Brigadier General Mohamed Bakhit, by a drone strike in the Al-Dibeibat axis at the end of this week.

The late major general had served as the deputy commander of the Signal Corps and had remained at its headquarters in Khartoum throughout most of the war until the siege was broken in January. He then moved on to lead the Kordofan mobile convoys. Ayin also verified the deaths of seven other officers in the mobile convoy’s field command room.

Siege of El-Obeid

Retired Major General Badr Al-Deen Abdel-Hakim, a security expert, told Ayin that the advancement of the RSF is actually a desperate attempt to prevent any army advancement. “The RSF has collapsed, which is why it made a large mobilisation and brought all its troops from around El-Fasher to Al-Khuwei and Al-Debeibat,” the retired security expert said. “This is their last attempt to stop the army’s advance westward.” Abdel-Hakim believes the core force behind the RSF has dissipated, and only young, inexperienced recruits remain.

As the RSF advanced in the Al-Khuwei and Al-Dibeibat axes, the city of El-Obeid—the capital of North Kordofan—has come under siege again from three directions: south, west, and north, with the RSF beginning long-range attacks.

On Friday, the RSF bombed the Eldaman Hospital in El-Obeid with a drone, killing six people and injuring 15 others, according to a statement by the Emergency Lawyers human rights group.

“Patients and medical personnel were caught in the line of fire inside a facility dedicated to healing and hope,” said UN Humanitarian Coordinator Kristine Hambrouk in a statement. “Hospitals are not battlegrounds — they are protected under international law and must be respected as such.

A volunteer in El-Obeid informed Ayin that the drone strike on the hospital caused panic among residents, and it is likely that a wave of displacement towards White Nile State will occur, especially now that the city is once again under siege.