An offensive by Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, on the city of El Obeid is unlikely to result in the United States imposing decisive sanctions on the group's support network due to Emirati lobbying, aggrieving the rival Sudanese Armed Forces, or SAF, and curbing the prospect of a nationwide humanitarian truce in the coming months. Since mid-June, the RSF has massed forces around El Obeid, the capital of Sudan's North Kordofan state, and escalated drone attacks on the city, including energy infrastructure, civilian facilities and SAF military sites. This comes as the paramilitary group has secured new military equipment in recent months, including technical vehicles and armored cars, almost certainly with the backing of its main foreign patron, the United Arab Emirates. The rapid deterioration of humanitarian conditions around El Obeid in recent weeks has triggered renewed international backlash against the paramilitary group, with seven European countries warning...
