Egyptian army bombs RSF convoy days before commander Saddam Haftar's visit to Cairo

Egypt's air force carried out an air strike on a military supply convoy en route to Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF), The New Arab's Arabic-language sister publication Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported on Monday.

According to the report, the convoy included armoured vehicles and was travelling through the border region linking Egypt, Sudan and Libya.

An Egyptian official familiar with the matter told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that the strike took place on 9 January, two days before a visit to Cairo by Saddam Haftar, a senior commander in the Libyan National Army (LNA).

During the visit, which was his second to Cairo within a month, Saddam Haftar met Egypt’s defence minister, Abdel-Magid Saqr, to discuss military cooperation and regional developments.

The source suggested that Cairo had previously warned Khalifa Haftar against providing support to the RSF, a paramilitary force widely accused of committing war crimes in Sudan.

The official added that this was not the first time Egypt has targeted RSF-linked forces, noting that Egyptian air strikes were also carried out against the group in June on the Sudanese side of the border triangle.

The strike comes as Egypt and Saudi Arabia move closer towards aligning their positions on Sudan, according to the source.

In a separate statement, an Egyptian Armed Forces spokesperson said that Saqr's meeting with Haftar focused on military cooperation, regional developments, and efforts to maintain security and stability.

On 8 December, Saddam Haftar also accompanied his father during talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo.

The developments come amid continued escalation in Sudan. On Monday, the RSF launched drone attacks on an army base in Sinja, killing at least 27 people.

Since April 2023, the war between the Sudanese army and the RSF has displaced tens of thousands of civilians and triggered one of the world's most severe displacement and hunger crises.

Earlier this month, an RSF drone strike on the city of El-Obeid killed 10 people, including seven children.

The RSF now controls much of Sudan's western Darfur region and has advanced through parts of southern Kordofan, seeking to capture key cities that would bring it closer to Khartoum.

The Sudanese army and the internationally recognised government retain control of the north, east and central regions of the country.