RSF Drone Strike from Ethiopia Kills 30 in Wad al-Mahi

At least 30 displaced people are dead after a drone strike hit Wad al-Mahi province in southeastern Sudan. The attack targeted the heart of the area and claimed the lives of women and children while leaving dozens more wounded. Governor Mahjoub Al-Sheikh told Al Jazeera on Friday that this cowardly assault came from a RSF drone launched inside Ethiopia. He confirmed 26 women and four children died near an informal gold mining site just outside a displacement camp. Women there scavenge for daily wages using chemicals and bare hands to clear nuggets left by men who extract the ore.

This violence is part of a growing wave of strikes in the Blue Nile region. Wadah Al-Tahir, Sudan's correspondent for Al Jazeera Arabic, noted that Wad al-Mahi near Damazin was struck this time. The border with Ethiopia has become a key frontline where the RSF advances threaten to trap the army. If the paramilitary group pushes toward Damazin, the military faces a bind: it must defend territory along the Blue Nile front and in Kordofan, where deadly drone strikes have locked both sides in a stalemate for a year.

Sudan keeps accusing Ethiopia of sheltering RSF fighters and bases, yet Addis Ababa denies these claims. Local sources say the open border acts as a vital supply line for the group and its allies. The UN reports that nearly 100,000 people have been displaced in Blue Nile state alone this year. Aid workers warn that since April 2023, more than 200,000 individuals have lost their lives to Sudan's civil war. This conflict has spawned one of the biggest hunger and displacement crises on the planet.