Sudan's army says its air defences shot down an enemy drone over West Kordofan on Saturday, the second such shoot-down in days, as its forces push into territory held by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces for almost a year.

The Sudanese Armed Forces said in a statement carried by the official Sudan News Agency that its air defences brought down an FH-95 drone over the Eayal Bakheet area of West Kordofan State. It was the second drone the army reported shooting down in the state within days, after it said an FH-95 was downed south of the Al-Khuwei area on Thursday evening.

The shoot-downs have come as the army advances into West Kordofan for the first time in almost a year, following months of gains in neighbouring North Kordofan. The army says its forces entered the town of Iyal Bakhit in Al-Khiwai locality on 7 November and have since seized control of Umm Marahik, with fighting also reported around Abu Minaiqir, about 55 kilometres north of Al-Khiwei. The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces had controlled the whole of West Kordofan since late 2025.

The drone war is being fought on both sides. Drone strikes were reported to have hit three electricity substations in eastern and northern Sudan on Monday, the latest attacks in a concentrated campaign against the country's power network. Facilities in New Halfa and Aroma, in eastern Kassala State, were hit early on Monday, while the al-Ghazali substation in Northern State was also targeted, according to local media. Videos circulating on social media appeared to show fires at the facilities, although the footage could not be independently verified.

The attacks caused widespread power cuts across parts of the country and brought the number of reported strikes on Sudan's electricity network to 18 over the past week. Sudan's military government has claimed that Ethiopia is aiding the Rapid Support Forces in carrying out the attacks. Khartoum said it had filed complaints against Ethiopia with the United Nations Security Council and the African Union's Peace and Security Council, accusing Addis Ababa of involvement in the campaign against civilian infrastructure and power stations. Ethiopia denies supporting the Rapid Support Forces.

The army also reported on Monday that a group of Rapid Support Forces members had defected, surrendering to its forces in Damazin, the capital of south-eastern Blue Nile State. The announcement followed a declaration, in video footage obtained by Al Jazeera, by senior paramilitary commander Siddiq Ander that he had defected. The army said the defections were the latest in a growing number in Blue Nile State.

Kordofan has become the main battleground of Sudan's war, which began in April 2023 when the army and the Rapid Support Forces fell out over plans to fold the paramilitary into the military. The vast region, comprising North, West and South Kordofan states, sits between the army-held centre of the country and the paramilitary-controlled Darfur region to the west. The army has the upper hand in the north, the Rapid Support Forces in the west, and South Kordofan remains contested.

The United Nations has repeatedly warned that drone strikes are placing civilians at growing risk. Human Rights Watch said the UN had reported more than 300 people killed in drone attacks in Sudan in the first three weeks of October alone. With both sides now trading drone attacks across Kordofan and the power grid, there is little sign the fighting will ease.