RSF drone strike kills 27, injures at least 73

The RSF carried out the drone strike to warn government forces returning to Khartoum.

At least 27 people were killed in a drone strike on an army base in the southeastern city of Sinja, Sudan. The country’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) carried out the attack on Monday (January 12), a military source said.

The attack came a day after the army-backed government announced it was returning to the capital, Khartoum, after three years. Government operations were evacuated to Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast after the civil war broke out in April 2023. Khartoum state has been the focus of intense clashes between the Sudanese Army (SAF) and the RSF since the beginning.

A military source, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons, said the drone strike targeted not only top government leaders but also their security personnel and civilians accompanying them. The exact number of casualties was not immediately known.

Al Jazeera reported at least 13 people were injured, but other sources put the number higher. AFP, citing military and medical sources, put the number of injured at 73.

A government statement said the governor of Sudan's White Nile state, Qamar al-Din Fadl al-Mawla, was in Sinja at the time of the attack. He survived, but two officials with him were killed.

The town of Sinja is located on a key route linking the state capital of Sinja with the capital, Khartoum, about 300 kilometers south of Khartoum. It is home to the headquarters of the Sudanese army's 17th Infantry Division, which is believed to have been the main target of the attack.

An RSF adviser suggested on Facebook that the drone strike was intended to send a warning to Sudan's military leadership. Despite its strategic location, Sinja has remained free of major conflict since the military regained control in 2024. The last drone strike in the region occurred last October.