Why el-Obeid matters as Sudan’s war enters a new phase

• The city has become the latest focal point in a war that has already triggered the world’s largest displacement crisis.
• For much of Sudan’s three-year civil war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), international attention has centred on Khartoum and the Darfur
• The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has warned of an impending humanitarian “catastrophe” as el-Obeid is expected to be the next site for major ground clashes between the RSF and Sudanese military.