Al-Tina, December 8 (Darfur24)
Three independent sources reported on Sunday that a drone targeted an army base in the border town of Al-Tina, near Chad, killing and wounding five soldiers.
A military source in the Sudanese army told Darfur24 that the drone, believed to belong to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), carried out an airstrike on the army base east of the town, killing two soldiers and injuring three others, describing their condition as serious.
The source added that the drone later returned and flew intensively over the town without firing additional munitions, triggering panic among residents and forcing the closure of the main market.
Another source in the town, who requested anonymity, told Darfur24 that recent preparations by the army and the joint force, including airdrop operations conducted days earlier, may have prompted the drone strike.
He also indicated that a verbal agreement exists between some local administrations and the RSF stipulating that the towns of Karnoi, Al-Tina, and Ambro would not be targeted by drones in exchange for allowing commercial convoys to pass into RSF-controlled areas in Kutum, Kabkabiya, and parts of Mellit.
The source noted that in November, drone attacks in Al-Tina killed 30 members of the Sudanese Alliance Forces and injured 40 more. The attacks also struck Karnoi Rural Hospital, killing more than seven people. These incidents, he said, pushed local leaders to initiate informal negotiations with the RSF, including commanders led by Abdullah Shagab, in the vicinity of Abu Qumra in Karnoi locality.
Karnoi, Al-Tina, and Ambro are the last areas in North Darfur under the control of the Sudanese army and its allies in the joint force of armed movements.
The Al-Tina border crossing remains one of the most important land gateways between Sudan and Chad, used both for the delivery of humanitarian aid into Darfur and as a major commercial corridor between the two countries.