At least four people were killed and several others injured after a drone strike targeted a funeral procession at a cemetery in the Sudanese city of El Obeid, according to the Sudan Doctors Network and Emergency Lawyers.
The rights groups blamed the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces for the attack, which they said formed part of a wider wave of drone strikes that began on Wednesday evening and killed at least 23 people. The RSF has not commented on the allegations.
Emergency Lawyers reported that drones also struck residential areas, the airport district and locations near an army base, killing 13 civilians as residents gathered around damaged homes. Five other civilians were reportedly killed in earlier attacks.
In a separate incident, a lorry driver transporting food supplies was killed when his vehicle was hit by a drone strike on Thursday.
Residents described widespread destruction, with several homes collapsing on occupants.
El-Obeid, controlled by the Sudanese army, is a strategic city in Sudan’s oil-rich Kordofan region and has become a key battleground in the country’s civil war, which began in April 2023 between the army and the RSF.
The conflict has triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, displacing more than 11 million people and leaving about 28 million facing acute hunger. Although no official death toll exists, estimates suggest at least 50,000 people have been killed since the war began.