(MENAFN) Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, was targeted by a series of drone attacks on Wednesday, lasting several hours, according to eyewitnesses and a military source. The strikes, which targeted two army bases in the city’s northwest, were mostly intercepted by Sudanese forces, the official said.

Since April 2023, Sudan’s army has been engaged in a brutal conflict with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), who have increasingly employed drones against army positions.

The ongoing war has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and triggered the world’s largest hunger and displacement crisis.

Eyewitnesses in Omdurman, part of greater Khartoum, reported seeing drones overhead and hearing “loud explosions coming from the north” throughout Wednesday night. This marked the second consecutive day of drone attacks on the capital, the Sudan Shield Forces—an army-aligned group—said. Two of its members were reportedly killed by a drone on Tuesday in Khartoum’s East Nile district.

Since the army regained control of Khartoum earlier this year, fighting has shifted largely to the country’s south and west. Over 800,000 residents have returned to their homes, but vast areas of the capital remain devastated, with many neighborhoods lacking reliable electricity or essential services due to RSF attacks.

The RSF has concentrated its fiercest operations in Darfur, particularly around the city of El-Fasher, which has resisted capture for nearly 18 months. If El-Fasher falls, the RSF would gain control of all of Darfur and parts of southern Sudan, while the army maintains authority over the center, east, and north.

The UN reports that more than 400,000 civilians are trapped in El-Fasher, facing mass starvation and frequent attacks on mosques and hospitals. The RSF has targeted famine-stricken displacement camps, prompting UN warnings of possible mass ethnic killings.

The army-backed government is attempting a reconstruction program in Khartoum and plans to relocate officials back from the wartime capital of Port Sudan, but the ongoing drone attacks underscore the persistent threat to the city and its residents.

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