WED 8 APR — The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) is receiving assistance at an Ethiopian military base and staging attacks into Sudan from Ethiopian territory, evidence suggests.
Satellite images from the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL) appear to show car transporters, hundreds of vehicles, and heavy machine guns arriving over a period of months at an Ethiopia National Defense Force (ENDF) facility in the town of Asosa.
The equipment is not the sort typically used by the ENDF but does match that seen being used by the UAE-backed RSF during fighting in nearby Sudanese border regions in the same period.
It follows an increase in fighting in Blue Nile state, which sits on Sudan’s southeastern border, and multiple reports that the RSF has been launching attacks from inside Ethiopia. More than 28,000 people have been displaced by fighting in Blue Nile since the start of this year.
Beginning in late December, images of the Asosa base showed commercial car transporters offloading unarmed technicals - a type of light vehicle, such as a pickup truck, that has been modified for combat and is commonly used by the RSF.
The number of technicals present varies over time, but at one point in February at least 200 could be seen.
The majority had also been fitted with gun mounts, while rows of objects consistent with 50-caliber machine guns could be seen on the ground nearby.
Shipping containers also arrived at the base, along with tents capable of holding up to 150 people, according to Yale HRL.
No similar activity was seen at 14 other ENDF bases monitored by Yale HRL in western and central Ethiopia, leading to the conclusion that it was “anomalous” to Asosa.
Vehicles, transporters, and tents at the Asosa military base © 2026, Planet Labs
The vehicles were consistent with those seen being used by RSF fighters in social media videos of battles around Kurmuk, a town on the Sudan-Ethiopia border that fell to the group in March, and other parts of Blue Nile.
Asosa sits around 60km southeast of Kurmuk on the main road leading towards the town and the Sudanese border.
Previous reporting by Al Jazeera Arabic has alleged that Asosa is a logistical node for supplies being sent to the RSF via ports in Somalia and Kenya.
Last month, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) for the first time accused Ethiopia of allowing drones to be launched from its territory to carry out strikes in Sudan.
The uptick in fighting in Blue Nile was already thought to be part of an effort by the RSF to secure new supply lines from Ethiopia following disruption to others from Chad and Libya.
Yale HRL said it had concluded with “high confidence that there is activity consistent with military assistance” to the RSF taking place at the Asosa base and that the significance of the findings was threefold.
“First, it represents the first definitive visual proof over a five-month period that RSF is basing its attacks on the Blue Nile State, Sudan from inside Ethiopian sovereign territory,” the report said.
“Second, it demonstrates that this support is occurring inside an active ENDF installation with the direct collusion of Ethiopia’s military with an armed actor credibly accused of genocide in El Fasher by the United Nations.
“Third, it shows that Ethiopia is actively violating UN Security Council Resolutions, including 1591 prohibiting arms shipments to those engaged in fighting in the Darfur region.”
Ten killed in hospital strike amid pattern of healthcare attacks
Elsewhere in the conflict, at least 10 people were reportedly killed in two RSF strikes on a hospital in White Nile amid a spate of tit-for-tat attacks on healthcare facilities by both sides.
The strikes hit the Al‑Jabalain Hospital on Thursday, with seven medical staff among the dead, according to Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).
The charity said one strike hit the hospital’s operating theatre, the other its maternity ward, adding that the attack came during a children’s immunization campaign.
Among those killed was the hospital’s director, Dr. Hamed Suleiman, who was carrying out a surgery at the time of the strike, Sudan War Monitor reports.
It follows a number of attacks on health facilities across Sudan.
Last week, an RSF affiliate stormed Al-Usrah Hospital in the East Darfur city of Al Daein, according to the Sudan Doctors Network (SDN).
The group reportedly beat medical staff and destroyed medical equipment at the facility.
The incident followed a SAF strike on a teaching hospital in Al Daein last month in which 70 people were killed.
On 31 March, at least two strikes reportedly carried out by SAF hit a civilian area close to an MSF-supported teaching hospital in South Darfur capital Nyala.
MSF said at least one person was killed in the attack and that the hospital treated five people for injuries.
Last week, the SDN reported that a paediatrician at the hospital, Mohamed Ahmed Ali Al-Siddiq, had been killed by the RSF at his home, adding that “medical personnel have become direct targets without any meaningful protection”.
Explosion causes area closure in Khartoum
An area of central Khartoum was closed on Saturday following an explosion thought to have been caused by a piece of unexploded ordnance.
The incident occurred in Burri, a neighbourhood in the northeast of the city, on Friday night, with residents describing hearing a single blast.
No casualties have been reported.
The ordnance - believed to have been a landmine or unexploded shell - was triggered by residents burning a pile of waste, the AFP reports, citing local police.
Footage and images circulating online showed a deep, round crater, around half a metre across, in the ground.
Specialist teams conducted sweeps to make sure there was no other unexploded ordnance in the area, Sudan Tribune reports.
The incident coincided with International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action on Saturday.
In a statement to mark the day, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator in Sudan, Denise Brown, said action on mines in Sudan was a “humanitarian imperative”.
“Ongoing conflict has led to a sharp increase in explosive ordnance contamination across both urban and rural areas,” she said.
“Homes, roads, schools and critical infrastructure are affected, placing civilians at daily risk and constraining humanitarian access.
“While efforts are expanding, the scale of contamination continues to outpace the response.
“By investing in mine action, we can save lives today and help lay the groundwork for Sudan’s recovery and peace.”
Khartoum was the site of significant fighting from the start of the war in April 2023 until it was brought under SAF control in March last year.
The city continues to experience insecurity as a result of the war, including from bouts of drone strikes, but has also seen the return of over a third of the 3.8m people previously displaced to elsewhere in Sudan.
SAF replaces army chief of staff with hardliner
The chief of staff of the Sudanese military has been replaced as part of a reshuffle thought to have favoured hardliners and those opposed to negotiations to end the war.
In a statement, SAF said First Lieutenant General Muhammad Osman al-Hussein had been relieved of his position and would be replaced by First Lieutenant General Yasser Al-Atta.
Al-Atta is a long-serving soldier as well as a member of the Transitional Sovereignty Council that governs Sudan and assistant to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.
According to analysis by Sudan War Monitor, he is “widely regarded as one of the most hardline figures within the military leadership” and has a “record of opposing negotiations and advocating for total victory over the RSF”.
Al-Atta has frequently used public speeches to denounce the UAE, which is widely believed to be providing military and financial support to the RSF, Reuters reports.
He has also said that the head of SAF should remain head of state of Sudan even after the war has ended and “for up to three or four election cycles”, apparently opposing any near-term transition to civilian government.
The weekly dispatch features the latest developments, first-hand testimony, footage, photos, stats and analysis on Sudan. We can connect you with voices from the ground, experts, and survivors of the war. Get in touch on +44 7514 796 678 or sudan@avaaz.org
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