Eighteen civilians killed, 300 families flee to El Obeid after RSF attack, officials say

August 14, 2026 (EL OBEID) – At least 18 civilians were killed and 17 wounded on Friday when the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces attacked the town of Um Arada in Sudan’s North Kordofan state, local authorities and officials said.

The attack, which targeted the town roughly 25 kilometres (15 miles) southwest of the state capital of El Obeid, forced more than 300 families to flee on foot in the latest surge of displacement, North Kordofan Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Mohamed Ismail told Sudan Tribune.

Ismail said the state’s Humanitarian Aid Commission is coordinating logistics to transfer displaced families seeking shelter to established camps.

El Obeid hosts approximately 1.3 million displaced people, including about 105,000 distributed across eight designated displacement sites.

Massarra Al-Imam, head of development at the North Kordofan Ministry of Health, said the assault on Um Arada and two adjacent villages triggered acute humanitarian distress as residents fled over long distances without transport.

Al-Imam said health authorities had reunited 23 unaccompanied children, including infants, who arrived in El Obeid in the care of unrelated civilians.

Women displaced from Um Arada said RSF fighters raided the town in the early hours of Friday morning, holding the area for several hours before the Sudanese Armed Forces regained control.

The witnesses said fighters fatally shot men attempting to flee and subjected escaping residents to death threats and beatings.

The Sudanese military said earlier on Friday that its forces had repelled two separate attacks southwest of El Obeid, targeting Um Arada and Jabal Hashaba.