A military source in the Sudanese army confirmed that the anti-aircraft aircraft of the Armed Forces confronted attack drones launched by the Rapid Support Forces at dawn on Saturday, July 4.

The source explained that these planes targeted vital military sites in the north and west of the central city of Omdurman, stressing that the immediate defensive response succeeded in thwarting the attack without any significant human or material losses in the targeted locations.

Expanding operations south towards Karmak

Sudanese Armed Forces have expanded their military operations to regain control of the strategic city of Kurmak in the southern state of Blue Nile, Sudanese Sights reported.

According to the sources, this move came through two simultaneous tracks that include ground advance and aerial bombardment, where the air fighters carried out concentrated raids that destroyed combat vehicles belonging to the Rapid Support, following the army's success during the past period in achieving field progress by controlling the areas of Khor al-Baraka, Sirkom, and Maqja, approaching the city, which has been under the control of the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North since last March.

Warnings of the atrocities of Al-Obeid and the 18-month siege

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk has sounded a critical alarm from Geneva, warning of a major humanitarian "catastrophe" unfolding in the city of El Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan state, as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) siege enters its eighteenth month.

During an urgent panel discussion by the Human Rights Council, Türk revealed documentation of atrocities on the ground, including summary executions and sexual violence targeting displaced people, as well as monitoring 15 drone attacks on infrastructure, power and fuel stations, killing at least 45 civilians in June.

European proposal for an immediate truce

Five European countries, including Britain, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and Norway, have submitted an urgent draft resolution to the Human Rights Council calling for a "humanitarian truce leading to an immediate ceasefire" in Sudan. Britain's representative to the Council, Eleanor Sanders, explained that the dangerous escalation in the use of drones has led to the destruction of vital energy facilities and the cutting off of key supply routes, while the High Commissioner called on world leaders to raise the level of alert and pressure to stop funding the "war economy" and spare Al-Obeid the fate of the city of El Fasher in Darfur, to prevent the displacement of more than 500,000 people.

Record displacement and worsening humanitarian crisis

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) warned in a statement that the humanitarian situation in Kordofan Region has deteriorated rapidly and at a frightening pace, announcing that the number of displaced people in the region has increased by more than 87,000 people in just four months, bringing the total to 129,000 displaced people by the end of June.

The head of the organization's mission in Sudan, Mohamed Rifaat, pointed out that the continued violence that has erupted in Kordofan since October 25 has deprived families of safe options, coinciding with a grinding living and health crisis in the IDP camps in Damazin in Blue Nile State as the autumn season approaches, in light of the ongoing conflict since April 2023, which has left 13 million internally and externally displaced people.