RSF DRONE STRIKE ON CAR KILLS FIVE CIVILIANS IN SUDAN'S CAPITAL: RIGHTS GROUP. (PHOTO).

 RSF drone strike on car kills five civilians in Sudan's capital: rights group

A paramilitary drone killed five civilians on Saturday when it hit a vehicle in greater Khartoum, a rights group said, the second such attack in the Sudanese capital this week.

Drone attacks by both Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have intensified across the country in recent months, at times killing dozens of people in a single strike, AFP reported.

Emergency Lawyers, a Sudanese legal advocacy group documenting abuses during the conflict, said an RSF drone struck a civilian vehicle on the Jammouiya Triangle road Saturday morning in southern Omdurman - just across the Nile from Khartoum proper - killing all those on board.

The vehicle was travelling from the Sheikh al-Siddiq area in White Nile state, about 90 kilometres (56 miles) south of Khartoum, the group said.

Khartoum recapture

Last Tuesday, a drone strike hit a hospital in the Jebel Awliya area, around 40 kilometres (25 miles) south of central Khartoum, a security source and eyewitnesses told AFP.

It was the first such attack on the capital in months, after the area was recaptured by the army a year ago from its paramilitary rivals.

Jebel Awliya had been the RSF's last foothold in Khartoum state before the army's rapid counteroffensive, which pushed the paramilitary west towards its stronghold in the Darfur region.

The RSF carried out a series of drone strikes on Khartoum last year, largely targeting military sites, power stations and water infrastructure.

Flights resume

In recent months, however, the capital has seen relative calm. More than 1.8 million displaced residents have returned and the airport has resumed domestic flights, although much of the city remains without electricity or basic services.

Fighting has since been concentrated in Darfur, where the army lost its last base in October, and in Kordofan, where the RSF has sought to regain control of Sudan's key east-west highway.

Violence has also spread to southeastern Blue Nile state near the border with Ethiopia, raising fears of a more prolonged and fragmented conflict.

Now in its fourth year, the war has killed tens of thousands of people - with some estimates putting the death toll above 200,000 - displaced millions and triggered one of the world's largest humanitarian crises.