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Sudan's RSF Downs Iranian-made Drone in Omdurman

Smoke as a result of clashes between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces in Khartoum (file photo: AFP)
Smoke as a result of clashes between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces in Khartoum (file photo: AFP)
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Sudan's RSF Downs Iranian-made Drone in Omdurman

Smoke as a result of clashes between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces in Khartoum (file photo: AFP)
Smoke as a result of clashes between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces in Khartoum (file photo: AFP)

The Sudanese Rapid Support Forces (RSF) downed on Sunday Mohajer-6, an Iranian-made drone, on Sunday in Omdurman.

The RSF account on X announced that it was the third drone of this model that the forces have downed.

According to the Rapid Support media, Mohajer-6 belongs to the Sudanese army.

Platforms supporting the RSF published a short video showing fighters carrying debris that they said belonged to the drone.

Western officials and experts told Bloomberg a few days ago that Iran has supplied Sudan's army with combat unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) capable of monitoring and transporting explosives and carrying precision-guided munitions.

The report said that on Jan. 9, satellites captured images of Mohajer-6 at the Wadi Sayyidna air base, north of Khartoum, under the army's control.

The Sudanese army did not announce its possession of the drone, but observers and eyewitnesses confirmed that noticeable drone activity had been observed in recent operations.

The developments coincide with Sudanese-Iranian diplomatic efforts to accelerate and complete the resumption of relations.

The RSF platform said on X that the drone belonged to the Sudanese army, accusing it of bombing innocent civilians in cities and rural areas, leaving hundreds dead and wounded, and destroying vital infrastructure and residential areas.

The forces, led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, vowed to eliminate the movements and attempts of all remnants.

They said they would not back down from achieving "the aspirations of our people aspiring to freedom, peace, and democracy, in light of a nation where the values of justice and equality prevail without discrimination."

Analysts fear that arming the Sudanese army with Iranian drones will strengthen Tehran's military influence in the Middle East after Khartoum accelerated the resumption of its diplomatic relationship with Tehran seven years after they were severed.

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Arab World

UN Force Says Israeli Tank Fired near Peacekeepers in Lebanon

United Nations peacekeepers with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) patrol in vehicles together with Lebanese soldiers in the Buwayda region of Marjayoun, near the border with Israel in southern Lebanon, on January 8, 2026. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)
United Nations peacekeepers with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) patrol in vehicles together with Lebanese soldiers in the Buwayda region of Marjayoun, near the border with Israel in southern Lebanon, on January 8, 2026. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)
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UN Force Says Israeli Tank Fired near Peacekeepers in Lebanon

United Nations peacekeepers with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) patrol in vehicles together with Lebanese soldiers in the Buwayda region of Marjayoun, near the border with Israel in southern Lebanon, on January 8, 2026. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)
United Nations peacekeepers with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) patrol in vehicles together with Lebanese soldiers in the Buwayda region of Marjayoun, near the border with Israel in southern Lebanon, on January 8, 2026. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon said an Israeli tank fired near its peacekeepers on Monday, and warned that such attacks were becoming "disturbingly common".

UNIFIL has repeatedly reported Israeli fire near or towards its personnel in recent months, and less than two weeks ago said gunfire from an Israeli position hit close to peacekeepers twice, said AFP.

"UNIFIL peacekeepers observed two Merkava tanks move" from an Israel army position inside Lebanese territory "further into Lebanon" on Monday, the force said in a statement.

UNIFIL has acted as a buffer between Israel and Lebanon for decades, and recently has been working with Lebanon's army to support a year-old ceasefire between Israel and militant group Hezbollah.

Under the November 2024 truce, Israel was to withdraw its forces from south Lebanon, but it has kept them in five areas it deems strategic and carries out regular strikes on Lebanon, usually saying it is targeting Hezbollah sites and operatives.

"The peacekeepers requested through liaison channels that the tanks stop their activity," the statement said.

Later, "one of the tanks fired three shells from its main gun, with two impacts approximately 150 meters away from the peacekeepers," UNIFIL said, adding that "as the peacekeepers moved away for safety, they were continuously tracked with a laser from the tanks".

The statement reported no casualties but noted UNIFIL had informed the Israeli army of its activities in the area in advance.

"Attacks like these on identifiable peacekeepers ... are becoming disturbingly common," the statement said, urging a stop to such incidents.

It called them "a serious violation" of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended a 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah and forms the basis of the current truce.

Under heavy US pressure and fears of expanded Israeli strikes, Beirut has committed to disarming Hezbollah, and last week Lebanon's army said it had finished doing so in the area near the border.

UNIFIL's final mandate ends this year, and the force is to leave Lebanon in 2027.

Arab World

Al-Alimi Orders Closure of Illegal Prisons in Southern Yemen

The Port of Aden during sunset, in Aden, Yemen, October 20, 2024. (Reuters)
The Port of Aden during sunset, in Aden, Yemen, October 20, 2024. (Reuters)
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Al-Alimi Orders Closure of Illegal Prisons in Southern Yemen

The Port of Aden during sunset, in Aden, Yemen, October 20, 2024. (Reuters)
The Port of Aden during sunset, in Aden, Yemen, October 20, 2024. (Reuters)

Chairman of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council Dr. Rashad al-Alimi ordered on Monday the closure of all illegal prisons and detention centers in southern Yemen.

The prisons are located in the governorates of Aden, Lahj and Dhaleh.

Al-Alimi met in the Saudi capital Riyadh with Tobias Tunkel, Germany’s Commissioner for the Middle East, Near East and North Africa, and German Ambassador to Yemen, Thomas Schneider, the state news agency Saba reported.

Al-Alimi ordered the immediate release of detainees who have been illegally imprisoned. He tasked the security and military agencies to coordinate with the Defense Ministry public prosecution to carry out the order.

He made the order amid accusations by rights groups that forces aligned with the dissolved Southern Transitional Council had run illegal jails.

Al-Alimi warned against supporting these illegal armed groups, saying backing them does not help in the fight against terrorism.

Security chaos and legitimizing weapons outside state control are the greatest threat to the security of Yemen, the region and international waterways, he cautioned.

Al-Alimi and the German delegation discussed the latest developments in Yemen in wake of the handover of military camps to the legitimate forces and the withdrawal of the STC.

He said the move will help consolidate internal stability and pave the way for normal work to resume at state institutions, the flow of aid and restore the international community's trust.

Arab World

Sudan Paramilitary Strike on Southeastern City Kills 27

RSF fighters. (AFP file photo)
RSF fighters. (AFP file photo)
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Sudan Paramilitary Strike on Southeastern City Kills 27

RSF fighters. (AFP file photo)
RSF fighters. (AFP file photo)

Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces launched drones at an army base in the southeastern city of Sinja on Monday, killing 27 people, military and health sources told AFP.

Sinja, the capital of Sennar state, lies around 300 kilometers (180 miles) southeast of the capital Khartoum, along a strategic road connecting the national capital to the army-controlled east.

The strike comes a day after the army-aligned government announced its return to Khartoum after close to three years operating from its wartime base in the eastern city of Port Sudan.

Since April 2023, the war between the army and the RSF has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced 11 million internally and across borders, and created the world's largest displacement and hunger crises.

Sinjah had largely been spared the fighting since the army recaptured the area in late 2024 as part of a wider offensive that saw it later retake Khartoum.

The military source, speaking anonymously because they were not authorized to brief the media, said RSF drones "targeted the headquarters of the army's 17th Infantry Division" in Sinja.

Ibrahim al-Awad, the Sennar state health minister, said that the attack carried out by the RSF also wounded 73 people.

A security source told AFP on condition of anonymity that the attack targeted the army headquarters "during a meeting attended by military, security and government officials" from several eastern and central states.

One resident of Sinja told AFP that they "heard explosions and anti-aircraft fire".

The Sennar region had last been targeted by drones in October.

- Fragile return -

In the year following its recapture, more than 200,000 people returned to Sennar state, according to the United Nations' migration agency.

But the agency has warned many such returns across the country remain "fragile", often taking place in areas with damaged infrastructure and ongoing insecurity.

Along with the government, millions of civilians had fled Khartoum early in the war when RSF fighters quickly overran it.

Since the army regained control last year, around 1.2 million have gradually returned, according to the latest UN figures.

Reconstruction efforts are underway, but the RSF, which with its allies now rules around a third of the country, sporadically launches long-range drones deep into army-controlled territory, particularly targeting infrastructure.

The army and its government control Sudan's north, east and center.

The RSF now dominates the vast western region of Darfur and has pushed through the southern region of Kordofan, aiming to capture cities that would bring it closer to Khartoum.

With multiple cities under paramilitary siege, hundreds of thousands face mass starvation in Kordofan.

The UN has called the conflict a "war of atrocities", with both sides accused of targeting civilians.