160 people reported killed in escalating drone attacks across Sudan
More than 160 people have been killed in recent days as drone attacks escalate across Sudan, with three children among the victims in the capital Khartoum.
The deadliest recent attack occurred near a market in al-Dabba town in West Kordofan, where a drone struck a transport hub, killing 80 people. Another 47 wounded individuals were taken to al-Mujlad, where 30 later died from their injuries. These attacks follow a pattern of increasing drone warfare that has intensified civilian casualties in Sudan's civil conflict.
In eastern Sudan, military sources reported intercepting several RSF drones targeting the Atbara and Setit dams in Gadarif state. Meanwhile, an RSF drone attack on displaced people in Blue Nile province killed 41 people, which Emergency Lawyers condemned as a humanitarian tragedy.
Civilian casualties mount
The attacks have been blamed on both the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and government troops, who have been fighting since 2023. The increasing use of drones in recent months has caused growing numbers of civilian casualties, with three children killed in a drone attack on Khartoum on Monday.
We are alarmed by the continued deadly drone strikes across the country that are killing civilians, including children, and that are disrupting central services.
Humanitarian crisis deepens
The Sudan war began in April 2023 when military leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF top commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo fell out over plans to fold the paramilitary into the army. The conflict has now entered its fourth year, killing at least 59,000 people according to conflict monitor ACLED, though aid groups believe the actual toll is higher.
The United Nations reports that about 13 million people have been forced from their homes, creating what aid groups call the world's largest humanitarian crisis. Across Sudan, 33.7 million people, including 17.3 million children, urgently need food support this year, with an estimated 825,000 children facing severe acute malnutrition.
The United States has urged the UN Security Council to push for a humanitarian truce and expand an arms embargo on Sudan, but China and Russia opposed widening the embargo, leaving the international community divided on how to address the escalating violence.
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