EL-OBEID — The Rapid Support Forces have deployed reinforcements around el-Obeid in North Kordofan, a city of approximately 500,000 in central Sudan. The group has also conducted drone strikes on the city in recent months. The United States, Britain, and other European countries have warned of escalating atrocity risks in el-Obeid. U.N. Secretary-General Spokesman for António Guterres said, "We must not allow the horrors of El Fasher to be repeated in El Obeid."

Rapid Support Forces drone strikes in el-Obeid have destroyed civilian infrastructure, including power facilities and neighborhoods. These drone attacks have also targeted bridges and key supply routes into el-Obeid. Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson for the U.N. human rights office, stated that "Many civilians are trapped." She added that "Those who are able to flee are doing so." Shamdasani emphasized that "The imminent offensive must be halted, and civilians enabled to safely leave the city."

El-Obeid contains a sprawling air base and is home to an infantry division. The city is located on Sudan's main east-west road, which leads to the Nile Valley and Khartoum. The Rapid Support Forces seeks to control this road to Khartoum and Omdurman. Sudan's military broke a yearlong siege on el-Obeid early last year. Since then, the Rapid Support Forces has launched multiple offensives to reestablish the siege from several directions. At least 2,670 people, including combatants and civilians, were killed in the Kordofan region in 2025. In the same year, drone attacks in the Kordofan region increased by 81% compared to the previous year, and drone-related deaths rose by 600%.

Nathaniel Raymond, Executive director of the Humanitarian Research Lab at the Yale School of Public Health, said that "El Obeid is important beyond even the strategic implications because it shows what happens when you have two forces that are highly depleted attempting to gain advantage on the other in high proximity." He also stated, "This is not a genocidal move, it's a tactical one." The Rapid Support Forces previously seized el-Fasher last year, an event that resulted in more than 6,000 deaths over three days.