‘Digging with needles’: Military officials block peace as Sudan’s El-Obeid burns | Drone Hits the News

Khartoum, Sudan – As airstrikes in El-Obeid by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) strengthen their months-long siege, the capital of North Kordofan has become the latest port of call for Sudan’s war.

Despite increasing international pressure and renewed pressure from US diplomats to promote international peace, Sudanese military officials remain steadfast. The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the RSF appear to be locked in the quest for real military success, largely due to the constant flow of foreign arms.

Through the escalating crisis in El-Obeid, a sad truth is unfolding: The suffering of civilians is increasingly weaponized in the midst of domestic issues, while natural control repeatedly stops any peace process.

Great reward and global alarm

El-Obeid has a big advantage. Located 550km (340 miles) southwest of Khartoum, it acts as Khartoum’s gateway to the greater Darfur region. The city is also a major military stronghold, home to the 5th Infantry Division of the SAF, known as “Al-Hagana”, and has become a refuge for thousands of refugees fleeing violence elsewhere.

The looming threat of a full-scale global attack has prompted urgent warnings around the world. Recently, 38 international non-governmental organizations (NGOs), together with the UN and countries including Qatar, sounded the alarm about the increase in drones and the possibility of more violence, warning that el-Obeid could face the same destruction that was recently seen in El-Fasher.

However, these warnings have failed to change the bottom line.

Polarized stories of suspended peace

Recent efforts by the United States, led by Massad Boulos, an adviser to US President Donald Trump, have pushed for an end to the war. However, the push for peace has been met with deep domestic discord.

The head of the SAF, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has strongly rejected unlimited attacks, saying that the army will work effectively “needle and needle” until the RSF is dismantled.

This instability reflects the political breakdown. Fathi Abu Ammar, a Sudanese student, told Al Jazeera that the SAF is responsible for the long-term suffering by obstructing peace processes and refusing to establish safe routes for civilians to leave El-Obeid.

He accused the army of using the city’s residents as “human shields” to garner international sympathy, while saying RSF is fighting to end legitimate historical grievances.

In contrast, Sudanese journalist and political analyst Yousef Abdel Mannan denied this.

Speaking to Al Jazeera from Sudan, Abdel Mannan blamed the RSF for widespread atrocities, including the recent drone attack on a girls’ school in El-Obeid and the systematic killing of thousands of civilians in El-Fasher, including patients inside a Saudi hospital.

Abdel Mannan criticized the US-backed peace talks as insufficient measures that only “heal the wounds of the conflict and leave behind the causes of the conflict,” saying that only a political solution, not a temporary suspension, would solve the problem.

He added that civilians in El-Obeid are not captured by the army, but prefer to stay in their homes instead of being evicted by the army.

Foreign weapons and geopolitical destruction

Underneath the domestic game lies a fundamental factor that is causing the conflict: international interference.

David Shinn, a former US ambassador and assistant secretary of state for Africa, said that despite years of US negotiations and sanctions targeting both SAF and RSF leaders, neither side has shown interest in ending violence.

“There is a desire on both sides to keep fighting until one side wins,” Shinn told Al Jazeera.

The increasing number of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) at El-Obeid confirms this external approach. “Neither the RSF nor the Sudanese military make drones,” Shinn said, implying that the advanced equipment must be imported.

He also said that the fighting groups are strongly supported by regional authorities, pointing to the United Arab Emirates as a sponsor of the RSF, and Egypt and Saudi Arabia as supporters of the SAF, arguing that the conflict has turned into a proxy war.

For the siege of El-Obeid to end and the path to real peace to begin, the geopolitical spigot must be turned off.

Until the international community forces foreign actors to stop their military aid, experts warn that Sudan will remain a soldier in a war that its leaders believe they can still win.