Sudan’s RSF shells El Obeid, hospital hit, as ministry reports 28 dead in Kordofan
May 30, 2025 (EL OBEID) – Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) shelled El Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan state, with drones and artillery on Friday, causing casualties and forcing a key hospital to suspend services, local sources and a rights group said, while the foreign ministry reported 28 civilians killed in RSF attacks across three Kordofan towns.
The attacks on El Obeid followed the RSF’s reported recapture of several towns surrounding the city.
Local sources told Sudan Tribune that RSF drones struck the Elobied International Hospital on Friday morning. The hospital administration later announced it was out of service due to damage from a drone. Residents said the facility was the only one adequately equipped to treat citizens in North Kordofan.
The sources also reported artillery exchanges between the Sudanese army and the RSF, with RSF shells hitting El Obeid, resulting in at least five deaths and approximately 10 injuries.
The Emergency Lawyers, a rights group, said in a separate statement that an RSF drone strike on the El Obeid hospital killed six people and injured 15 others, including patients and their companions. The group also accused the RSF of shelling residential areas in El Obeid from the RSF-controlled town of Bara, calling it a war crime.
Expanding on the violence in the wider Kordofan region, Sudan’s foreign ministry said on Friday that 28 civilians had been killed in RSF attacks targeting El Obeid, Al-Dubaibat, and Al-Khawi. In a statement, the ministry accused the RSF of committing “a series of heinous humanitarian crimes” in recent hours against “purely civilian objectives.”
The ministry added that RSF drone attacks on a market in Al-Khawi, West Kordofan, on Wednesday killed eight civilians, and an attack on a residential area in Al-Dubaibat, South Kordofan, killed two citizens.
The RSF stated on Friday, claiming control over the Al-Hammadi and Kazgail areas south of El Obeid. Kazgail is located about 45 km (28 miles) south of the city. This follows an RSF announcement on Thursday that it had retaken the strategic Al-Dubaibat area.
The paramilitary group also said it had regained control of Al-Khawi, about 100 km west of El Obeid, and was advancing towards El Obeid from the town of Umm Samima, according to fighters in video clips.
There was no immediate comment from the Sudanese army on the RSF’s claims of capturing five areas across West and South Kordofan, nor on the foreign ministry’s statement. The army and its allies had recently made advances in the Kordofan region, including in Al-Dubaibat, Al-Hammadi, and Al-Khawi.
The RSF has controlled Al-Nahud, West Kordofan’s largest city, since early May.