NEW YORK/GENEVA – The Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan today laid bare the mounting dangers facing civilians in El Obeid and across the country in a new report that documents expanding drone warfare, attacks on vital infrastructure and intensifying state repression.
The report, “Sudan’s Unrelenting War: Civilian Devastation and Deepening Insecurity in El Obeid,” details how civilians remain trapped between widespread violence, severe deprivation and fear.
The Mission found that the population in El Obeid remains exposed to grave risks, as the strategic city remains partially encircled by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Drone strikes attributed to the RSF continue to kill and injure civilians, damage schools, displacement sites and other civilian infrastructure, and disrupt access to healthcare, electricity and water. At the same time, security forces affiliated with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) have stepped up mass surveillance and arbitrary arrests, distilling fear among the civilian population.
The report comes amid continued deadly attacks in Blue Nile State, a drone strike in Abyei that reportedly killed scores of civilians, and other assaults near the Sudan-Egypt border which have reportedly killed dozens of artisanal miners. The Mission is investigating these incidents, which reflect broader patterns documented in its recent investigations.
“The situation in and around El-Obeid remains grave and the risk of atrocities are high. The attacks reported in Blue Nile, Abyei and near the Sudan-Egypt border reinforce what we have been warning about for months: the conflict is becoming more geographically extensive, more technologically sophisticated and increasingly dangerous for civilians,” said Mohamed Chande Othman, Chair of the Fact-Finding Mission. “Our findings from El Obeid show that civilians remain under attack, while restrictions on fundamental freedoms make life very difficult.”
The Mission’s report comes one year after the takeover of El Fasher and surrounding areas by the RSF and affiliated actors. The Mission previously found that violations committed during and after the assault, including attacks against civilians and targeted ethnic communities, bore the hallmarks of genocide. One year later, accountability remains absent, survivors remain displaced, and communities continue to live with the consequences of the devastation inflicted on El Fasher.
While the circumstances in El Obeid differ, the Fact-Finding Mission is concerned by emerging patterns that place civilians at increasing risk – particularly repeated RSF drone attacks affecting residential neighbourhoods, schools, displacement sites and infrastructure essential to civilian life which may amount to war crimes.
The report found that the deployment of SAF personnel and allied forces in residential neighbourhoods heightened foreseeable risks to civilians to be subjected to attacks.
Humanitarian action has been constrained by the SAF, the RSF, and their allies through attacks, bureaucratic barriers, militarisation and restrictions on reaching people in need.
The report also describes an alarming contraction of civic space in El Obeid by the SAF and its allies. In a city of 600,000 inhabitants, human rights defenders, humanitarian workers, lawyers, trade unionists, community leaders and civilians perceived as critical of authorities face surveillance, threats, intimidation and arbitrary detention. The Mission has received credible accounts of incommunicado detention, torture, ill-treatment, deaths in custody and allegations of sexual violence against female detainees. These acts may amount to war crimes.
“The people of El Obeid live in constant fear not only of the RSF drones, but also of the militarisation of their city and the campaigns of arbitrary detention as reprisals for perceived disloyalty to the SAF or civic engagement, including supporting human rights and peace efforts. Thousands have been arrested by the SAF’s security cells and detained and tortured in unofficial locations as well as in the El Obeid Central Prison under appalling conditions,” said Mona Rishmawi, expert member of the Fact-Finding Mission. “These practices must stop immediately and independent bodies that monitor detention must be granted access.”
The document warns that shrinking civic space undermines accountability, weakens civilian protection and jeopardizes prospects for any meaningful and inclusive Sudanese dialogue aimed at resolving the conflict.
While both the RSF and the SAF bear primary responsibility for the devastation and atrocities in Sudan, external actors have fueled the war and benefited from it.
The Mission’s latest findings build on its September report, “Fuelling Sudan’s Conflict: Weapons, Fighters and External Support Networks,” which described how external actors supplied both parties and helped sustain military operations, contributing to the continuation and escalation of the conflict, including through the growing use of drones and other advanced weapons systems. Chains of transnational networks operating across several countries have enabled and reinforced RSF military operations through the transfer of weapons, military equipment, drone-related technology, logistical support and foreign personnel.
“One year after the devastation of El Fasher, civilians in other parts of Sudan continue to pay the price of a conflict that is becoming increasingly destructive and difficult to escape,” said Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, expert member of the Fact-Finding Mission. “In El Obeid, attacks on electricity networks, water facilities, hospitals, schools and displacement sites demonstrate how damage to critical civilian infrastructure can reverberate through entire communities long after an attack has occurred.”
The Fact-Finding Mission reiterates its call on all parties to comply fully with international human rights law and international humanitarian law, protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, facilitate rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access, and end arbitrary detention, torture and reprisals. It further calls on all States to take meaningful measures to prevent the transfer of weapons, fighters and other support that may contribute to violations and international crimes in Sudan.
