Paramilitary drones attack Sudan's Blue Nile state capital near Ethiopia

Paramilitary drone strikes overnight Monday rocked Al-Damazin, the capital of Sudan's Blue Nile state, which borders Ethiopia, witnesses and the state government reported.

Two people told AFP they "woke up to the sounds of explosions", as the Sudanese army deployed anti-aircraft missiles.

A third person said he saw a fire break out "after a drone fell near the airport, causing a big explosion".

The war between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has since April 2023 killed more than 200,000 people, aid workers estimate, and created the world's largest hunger and displacement crises.

The Blue Nile state government said authorities had dealt with "the enemy's attempts to target Al-Damazin with drones", and that the situation was "under control".

Al-Damazin has been relatively safe throughout the war, but this year the RSF and their allies have pushed a powerful offensive along the Ethiopian border and north towards the city.

Their last known position is less than 100 kilometres (60 miles) south of Al-Damazin.

The fighting has displaced nearly 100,000 people across the state this year, almost half of them sheltering in Al-Damazin.

A paramilitary offensive on the city could put the army in a bind, forcing it to defend territory on both the Blue Nile front and in the Kordofan region, where a year of deadly drone strikes has left the two sides in a stalemate.

Sudan has repeatedly accused the RSF of launching attacks on the Blue Nile from inside Ethiopian territory.

Ethiopia has denied accusations it harbours RSF fighters, though local sources say the porous border is a key supply line for the paramilitaries and their allies.

Together, the RSF and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), led by their strongest ally Abdelaziz al-Hilu, control the southern Blue Nile, which borders both Ethiopia and South Sudan.