Medics and rights groups say a wave of drone attacks across Sudan has killed more than 160 people in recent days, with both the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and government forces blamed. The figures come mainly from medics, residents, emergency groups and anonymous sources, and have not been independently verified.
The deadliest strikes
The worst attack hit Al-Dibab in West Kordofan on Sunday evening, when a drone reportedly struck a transport hub where villagers had gathered after a market day. Residents and medical workers said 80 people were killed, and a medical source said 30 of 47 wounded people taken to a nearby hospital later died. The town is controlled by the RSF. The RSF's self-declared administration and a civilian monitoring group accuse the army of carrying out the strike. That is an allegation, not a confirmed finding.
On Friday in Blue Nile province, on the Ethiopian border, an RSF drone reportedly hit a gathering of displaced people and killed 41, according to the same monitoring group. In Nyala, South Darfur, early on Monday, medical and RSF sources said 17 people were killed, including seven RSF officers, and 23 wounded. In Khartoum on Monday, a drone attack reportedly killed three children. On Sunday a military source said air defences intercepted several drones reportedly launched by the RSF at dams in the east, and the RSF had not commented.
The wider war
The war began in April 2023 in a dispute between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo over folding the paramilitary into the army. Dagalo was sentenced to death in absentia in June for war crimes. A conflict-monitoring group counts at least 59,000 killed, and aid groups say the true toll is higher. About 13 million people have been displaced, 33.7 million need food assistance this year, including 17.3 million children, and about 825,000 children face severe acute malnutrition.
A spokesperson for the UN secretary-general said the organisation is alarmed by the continued deadly drone strikes killing civilians. The United States has urged the Security Council to push for a humanitarian truce and a wider arms embargo, which China and Russia oppose expanding.
