SAF Downs RSF FH-95 Drone Near Bara as RSF Intensifies Arrests, Telecom Blackouts Across North Kordofan

Sudan's military said its air defenses shot down a Rapid Support Forces FH-95 long-range drone northeast of Al-Kawkiti near Bara, North Kordofan, on the morning of September 24, 2026, according to an army spokesperson. Local sources told Sudan Tribune that, in the same period, RSF fighters arriving by convoy forced thousands of civilians to flee Hamrat al-Sheikh, Al-Mazroub and Umm Badr after indiscriminate gunfire and dozens of arrests of residents accused of spying for the army, while RSF personnel shut down Starlink satellite internet hubs in Fuja and raided the village of Wad Abu Saq near Al-Nuhud, cutting local communications and detaining at least seven residents for ransom. The intercept and the reprisal-style abuses came as fighting escalated sharply across North Kordofan, with government troops continuing to advance westward toward the Darfur border and both sides deploying drones heavily — RSF targeting army supply lines and SAF strikes hitting RSF staging grounds and convoys.