UN human rights office says drone strikes killed at least 306 people in Sudan in first three weeks of October

The UN human rights office (OHCHR) said drone strikes in Sudan killed at least 306 people and injured hundreds more in the first three weeks of October. High Commissioner Volker Türk strongly condemned an escalation in the strikes.

OHCHR attributed the strikes to both the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). It said they hit homes, markets, hospitals, displacement sites, power stations and water sources in Kordofan, Darfur, Blue Nile, Khartoum and other states.

“The increasing use of drones, already accounting for the majority of conflict-related civilian deaths in Sudan this year, is deeply disturbing and is exacting a horrifying toll,” Mr. Türk said.

OHCHR said it had documented numerous strikes on displacement sites, where people who had already fled the fighting had sought shelter. It listed several cases. Between 6 and 10 October, alleged drone strikes attributed to military government forces on shelters in Ghubeish and El Nuhud, in West Kordofan, killed at least 25 civilians, including women and children. The Arabic-language UN News report of the office's statement adds that 31 others were injured.

On 9 October, an alleged RSF drone struck a crowd of displaced people doing artisanal gold mining near a displacement site in Abu Shendi, Blue Nile. OHCHR said at least 31 people were killed, most of them women and children. On 18 October, at least 139 people were killed when a transportation truck was hit in a “double tap” repeat strike in Dibab, West Kordofan, an area controlled by the RSF. On 11 October, an RSF-attributed strike on Um Darfa hospital in Blue Nile seriously injured two health workers and left the facility non-operational.

The Arabic-language report also says drones allegedly flown by the RSF struck a gold mining area in South Kordofan, killing 42 civilians and injuring 25. It says OHCHR was concerned about the deliberate targeting of sites with economic value to the other side. It also says OHCHR described retaliatory strikes as an emerging trend, with RSF-attributed drones attacking Khartoum, including the airport area, reportedly in response to air strikes alleged to have been carried out by the SAF on Nyala in South Darfur.

Separately, UN News reported that a drone attack on 19 October on Amiet Market and the Todach area of Abyei killed more than 80 people. Abyei is the disputed, oil-rich region between Sudan and South Sudan. The source does not say who carried out the attack. Peacekeepers from the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) were first to reach the scene. The mission took more than 27 injured people to its hospital in Todach. The Security Council condemned the attack “in the strongest terms”. It said the death toll was expected to rise as UNISFA continues to verify casualties, and it called for a full, transparent and prompt investigation.

Mr. Türk called on the parties to respect their obligations under international humanitarian law, including by not directing attacks against civilians and civilian objects. He said peace efforts “must squarely address the continued influx of arms that is fuelling the conflict”. He also urged both parties to the conflict, and their affiliates, to commit to a ceasefire. He said a negotiated settlement with human rights at its core, underpinned by accountability, is the only feasible pathway to sustainable peace in Sudan.

The sources do not say which countries supply the arms Mr. Türk referred to. They do not explain how OHCHR verified the strikes, and they give no figure for the injured beyond hundreds.