KHARTOUM, June 11 (Xinhua) -- At least 23 civilians were killed and 19 others wounded in drone attacks targeting the city of El Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan State in western Sudan, local sources said Thursday.

"Drones belonging to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) carried out a series of attacks on the city, resulting in an initial death toll of 23 people and injuries to 19 others, with the number of casualties expected to rise," local volunteer group Sudanese Emergency Lawyers said in a statement Thursday.

According to the statement, the first strike hit a city center neighborhood on Wednesday, killing five and wounding 12. A second attack targeted a gathering of mourners attending the victims' funeral on Wednesday evening, killing four civilians and injuring seven more.

Further attacks targeted residential homes on Thursday morning in the Al-Muwazzafin and Al-Matar neighborhoods, as well as areas adjacent to the headquarters of the Sudanese Army's Fifth Infantry Division, killing 13 civilians, the statement said.

In a separate incident, a truck driver transporting food supplies was killed when his vehicle was struck near the city's southern entrance at dawn on Thursday, it added.

The group held the RSF fully responsible for the attacks and called for an end to aerial attacks against civilians.

The RSF did not immediately comment on the allegations.

El Obeid, currently under the control of the Sudanese Army, serves as one of its most important military and administrative centers in the Kordofan region.

The city has periodically come under drone and artillery attacks that Sudanese authorities attribute to the RSF, which is seeking to expand its influence over the strategically important city.

Since mid-April 2023, the Sudanese Army and the RSF have been engaged in a war that has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced millions of people both within Sudan and across its borders.