At least 18 people have lost their lives and another 17 have been injured this Friday in an attack attributed to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF, for its initials in English) in the locality of Um Arada, located about 20 kilometers southwest of El Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan state and one of the main hotspots of the conflict, according to local sources and Sudanese media.
The assault, which has reached Um Arada and two other nearby towns, has caused a serious humanitarian situation by forcing more than 300 families to flee on foot, in the context of a new wave of internal displacements.
Sources present in the area have explained to the Sudanese newspaper "Sudan Tribune" that the health authorities of El Obeid have been forced to attend to 23 unaccompanied minors -including several babies- who arrived in the city under the custody of civilians without family ties.
At the same time, the Rapid Support Forces have claimed on their social media to have achieved "total control" of Um Arada after forcing the withdrawal of the Sudanese Armed Forces, and have claimed advances on the fronts of Kordofan and Blue Nile. The Sudanese Army, on the other hand, has assured that it has repelled two enemy offensives in the region, directed against Um Arada and Jabal Hashaba.
In recent weeks, military operations have intensified in the states of North Kordofan, which has increased the suffering of the civilian population. Since the war broke out between the Army and the RSF in April 2023, the conflict has caused tens of thousands of deaths and has generated one of the largest displacement and refugee crises worldwide.