RSF Drones Hit Khartoum, Atbara, and El-Damer at Dawn, Breaking Months of Calm in Capital

Drones struck Sudan's capital Khartoum and the northern cities of Atbara and El-Damer at dawn on August 12, 2026 (around 0300 GMT), in what appeared to be a coordinated RSF strike ending months of relative calm in Khartoum since the army recaptured the capital in 2025. Witnesses in Atbara and El-Damer and an AFP correspondent in Khartoum reported drones overhead; SAF air defenses fired anti-aircraft missiles from the Wadi Seidna base north of Omdurman in response. There were no immediate reports of casualties. The strikes follow the RSF's recent battlefield setbacks in North Kordofan and commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo's (Hemedti) late-July vow to 'unleash' his fighters and mobilize renewed operations toward Khartoum and Kordofan.