A drone attack on a major prison facility in the southern Sudanese city of El-Obeid has killed at least 21 people and wounded 47 others, in what civil society groups and government officials are condemning as a dangerous escalation in the country’s ongoing conflict.
The strike, which targeted a prison housing nearly 5,000 inmates, was confirmed on Saturday by the Sudan Doctors Network, a non-governmental medical group. The network described the incident as a deliberate hit on a civilian site, calling it “a grave escalation in the violence gripping the region.”
Sudanese authorities quickly denounced the assault. Information Minister Khalid Al-Aiser declared the strike a “full-fledged war crime,” accusing the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and their foreign backers of orchestrating the attack. He said the incident added to a growing list of violations committed against Sudanese civilians since fighting erupted in April 2023.
The RSF has not issued any official comment on the incident.
The prison strike comes amid a sustained campaign of drone attacks on Port Sudan, the country’s temporary administrative capital on the Red Sea coast. Residents said that drones struck the city at dawn on Saturday, prompting heavy anti-aircraft fire from the Sudanese army.
This latest strike marked the seventh consecutive day of drone assaults on Port Sudan, which has seen repeated attacks on strategic infrastructure, including oil depots, a power station, and the international airport. Fires have been reported at several of the targeted locations, though casualty details remain unclear.
Earlier this week, Sudanese authorities directly blamed the RSF for the drone raids on Port Sudan, but the group has remained silent on the allegations.
The RSF and Sudanese Armed Forces have been locked in a bitter power struggle since April last year. The fighting has devastated much of the country, especially urban centers, and triggered a severe humanitarian crisis. The United Nations estimates that over 20,000 people have been killed and some 15 million displaced. Independent research by U.S.-based analysts suggests the death toll may be significantly higher—possibly exceeding 130,000.
As violence spreads and drone warfare intensifies, aid organizations warn that conditions for civilians are deteriorating rapidly. Attacks on essential infrastructure and civilian institutions, such as prisons, raise fears of worsening instability and displacement in one of Africa’s most fragile states.