Drone Strikes Kill 17 Civilians in Sudan Shelters, UN Warns
(MENAFN) Drone strikes on two communities sheltering displaced families in Sudan’s West Kordofan state have killed at least 17 civilians, among them women and children, the UN said Sunday, voicing deep concern over the attacks.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that a drone reportedly struck a building housing displaced families in An Nuhud on Oct. 9. At least 12 civilians were reportedly killed and eight wounded, including women and children, according to an OCHA statement.
Hours of violence were not confined to one town. A second drone strike that day reportedly killed five civilians, three of them children, in a residential area of Ghubaish that was hosting displaced families, the agency said.
OCHA noted that the victims had already fled their homes because of the war, only to be attacked in places they believed were safe.
The agency said the rising frequency of drone attacks across Sudan is “deeply alarming,” warning that they leave civilians, displaced families among them, exposed to death, injury and further suffering.
“International humanitarian law must be respected, and civilians and civilian infrastructure protected,” it said.
People escaping violence must be able to reach safety without facing new threats to their lives, the agency added. Its statement did not name those responsible for the strikes.
WASHINGTON RESPONDS
The United States condemned “in the strongest terms” the strike “reportedly by the RSF,” Massad Boulos, the US Senior Advisor for Arab and African Affairs, wrote on X.
The US “stands ready to work with any partners for peace in Sudan, and in the meantime will raise the cost of conflict, including at the UN Security Council, which must act to curtail the flow of external military support, including deadly drones, into Sudan,” Boulos said.
Fighting between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has gripped Sudan’s three Kordofan states (North, West and South) since Oct. 25, 2025.
Across the country, the army and the RSF have been at war since April 2023. UN and international estimates say the conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced about 13 million.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that a drone reportedly struck a building housing displaced families in An Nuhud on Oct. 9. At least 12 civilians were reportedly killed and eight wounded, including women and children, according to an OCHA statement.
Hours of violence were not confined to one town. A second drone strike that day reportedly killed five civilians, three of them children, in a residential area of Ghubaish that was hosting displaced families, the agency said.
OCHA noted that the victims had already fled their homes because of the war, only to be attacked in places they believed were safe.
The agency said the rising frequency of drone attacks across Sudan is “deeply alarming,” warning that they leave civilians, displaced families among them, exposed to death, injury and further suffering.
“International humanitarian law must be respected, and civilians and civilian infrastructure protected,” it said.
People escaping violence must be able to reach safety without facing new threats to their lives, the agency added. Its statement did not name those responsible for the strikes.
WASHINGTON RESPONDS
The United States condemned “in the strongest terms” the strike “reportedly by the RSF,” Massad Boulos, the US Senior Advisor for Arab and African Affairs, wrote on X.
The US “stands ready to work with any partners for peace in Sudan, and in the meantime will raise the cost of conflict, including at the UN Security Council, which must act to curtail the flow of external military support, including deadly drones, into Sudan,” Boulos said.
Fighting between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has gripped Sudan’s three Kordofan states (North, West and South) since Oct. 25, 2025.
Across the country, the army and the RSF have been at war since April 2023. UN and international estimates say the conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced about 13 million.
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