RSF strikes Sudanese army as cholera outbreak spreads

A drone strike launched by Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on Tuesday struck a military base and a fuel facility in the southern region of the conflict-ravaged country, according to a military official.

The assault targeted Kosti, a city in White Nile State, marking the latest move in the RSF’s extended campaign of long-range drone attacks that have disrupted critical infrastructure nationwide.

Sudan has been gripped by a brutal conflict between the RSF and the national army since April 2023. Meanwhile, the capital, Khartoum, is also grappling with a deadly cholera outbreak, compounding the country’s humanitarian crisis.

"The strike ignited a fire at the fuel depot," a military source told AFP, requesting anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the press.

Residents in Kosti, located roughly 320 kilometers (200 miles) south of Khartoum, reported hearing loud blasts and witnessing thick plumes of smoke billowing over the city.

The RSF ramped up its drone attacks after the army reclaimed control of the capital in March. Just last week, military forces ousted the paramilitary group from its remaining positions in the greater Khartoum area.

In retaliation, the RSF has stepped up strikes this month, targeting key infrastructure in the capital including three major power stations plunging the city into a widespread blackout that crippled water and electricity supplies and triggered a deadly cholera outbreak.

On Tuesday, the health ministry aligned with the army announced that over 2,700 cholera cases and 172 deaths were recorded within a single week across six states, with Khartoum state accounting for of infections.

While cholera is a recurring problem in Sudan, the conflict has severely damaged the country’s already fragile water, sanitation, and healthcare systems, causing outbreaks to worsen and occur more frequently.

Just last Tuesday, the ministry reported 51 cholera-related deaths among more than 2,300 cases reported over the previous three weeks, with the vast majority 90%, occurring in Khartoum state.

With power outages shutting down the local water system, residents have been forced to rely on unsafe water sources, according to Doctors Without Borders (MSF).

"Water treatment plants no longer have electricity and are unable to supply clean water from the Nile," said Slaymen Ammar, MSF’s medical coordinator in Khartoum, in a statement.

In Omdurman, a city within the greater Khartoum area, residents report having been without electricity for almost two weeks.

"We now collect water straight from the Nile, purchasing it from donkey carts that transport it in barrels," said resident Bashir Mohamed.

A doctor at Al-Nao hospital in Omdurman, the main operational health facility in the capital, explained that many people have turned to “drinking untreated Nile water” following the closure of water pumping stations.

He noted this is "the primary cause of the rapid spread" of cholera.

Medical staff at the already overstretched hospital are struggling to cope with the outbreak, prompting the local emergency response room (ERR) to call for additional volunteers.

"The number of patients has exceeded the hospital’s capacity," an ERR member told AFP, speaking anonymously for safety reasons.

“There aren’t enough medical staff. Some patients are forced to lie on the floors in hospital corridors,” he added.

Cholera is a severe diarrheal disease caused by consuming contaminated food or water, capable of causing death within hours if left untreated.

The disease is easily preventable and treatable when clean water, proper sanitation, and prompt medical care are available.

The World Health Organization says Sudan’s already fragile healthcare system has been pushed to the brink by the ongoing conflict.

According to the doctors’ union, up to 90% of the country’s hospitals have been forced to close at some point due to fighting, with health facilities frequently attacked, bombed, and looted.

Now in its third year, the war has claimed tens of thousands of lives, displaced 13 million people, and triggered the world’s largest crisis of displacement and hunger.