Sudan drone strikes kill at least 306 in October as UN rights chief demands ceasefire

The UN Human Rights Office has documented numerous drone strikes on displacement sites, recording a surge in casualties among people who had already fled the fighting and sought shelter elsewhere.

UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Friday condemned a sharp escalation in drone strikes across Sudan, where the UN Human Rights Office documented at least 306 deaths and hundreds of injuries during the first three weeks of October.

Strikes attributed to the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) hit homes, markets, hospitals, displacement sites, power stations and water sources, with civilians suffering across Kordofan, Darfur, Blue Nile, Khartoum and other states.

Türk said drones already account for the majority of conflict-related civilian deaths in Sudan this year, describing an increasingly devastating toll as attacks destroy essential services, force more people from their homes and deepen the humanitarian crisis.

Displaced families face deadly attacks on shelters and mining sites

The UN Human Rights Office has documented numerous drone strikes on displacement sites, recording a surge in casualties among people who had already fled the fighting and sought shelter elsewhere. Between 6 and 10 October, alleged SAF drone strikes on shelters in Ghubeish and El Nuhud in West Kordofan killed at least 25 civilians and injured 31 others, including women and children.

In Abu Shendi in Blue Nile, an alleged RSF drone struck a crowd of displaced people engaged in artisanal gold mining near a displacement site on 9 October, killing at least 31 people, most of them women and children. Alleged RSF drones also hit the Bajaun gold mining area in Gadeer locality, South Kordofan, on 9 and 16 October, killing 42 civilians and injuring another 25.

The Human Rights Office linked attacks on mining areas to the war economy sustaining the conflict, raising concerns that sites are being targeted because of their economic value to the opposing side, despite the laws of war establishing that financial contributions alone do not make an object a military target.

Truck, markets and hospital struck as civilian toll grows

At least 139 people were killed and dozens more injured on 18 October when a transportation truck was hit in a "double tap" repeat strike in Dibab, an RSF-controlled area of West Kordofan, underscoring the continuing danger to vehicles and civilian gatherings. Drone attacks on markets in Al Dabba in North Darfur, Nyala in South Darfur and Al-Idea in West Kordofan reportedly killed a combined 23 civilians, adding to a pattern of deadly strikes on places where people gather for everyday needs.

An RSF-attributed strike on Um Darfa hospital in Blue Nile on 11 October seriously injured two health workers and left the facility unable to operate, further reducing access to healthcare during the conflict. The Human Rights Office also identified retaliatory attacks as an emerging concern, with RSF-attributed drone strikes on Khartoum, including its airport area, reportedly carried out in response to alleged SAF aerial strikes on Nyala.

"Scores of civilians have been killed and vital infrastructure and services on which they depend eviscerated, driving further displacement and deepening the already severe humanitarian crisis," Türk said.

Türk calls for ceasefire and action on arms supplies

Türk renewed his call for both parties to comply with their clear and binding obligations under international humanitarian law, including the prohibition on directing attacks against civilians and civilian objects. He said broader peace efforts must address the continuing influx of weapons fuelling the conflict and press for an end to transfers of arms used in manifest disregard of the legal obligations protecting civilians.

"I urge both parties to the conflict, and their affiliates, to commit to a ceasefire," the High Commissioner said, calling for a negotiated settlement that places human rights at its centre. Such a settlement must be backed by accountability for the widespread violations and abuses taking place, Türk stressed, describing this as the only feasible route to sustainable peace in Sudan.