Drone attacks kill civilians and cripple Sudan’s power infrastructure, UN warns of growing humanitarian toll

Drone attacks across Sudan have killed at least 14 civilians and injured several others, while strikes on electricity infrastructure have triggered widespread power cuts and disrupted clean water supplies, prompting warnings from the United Nations and the Arab League.

The latest attacks killed eight people in Um Dibo, in El Sunut locality, West Kordofan, on Monday evening. Residents told Radio Dabanga that a drone strike also wounded three people.

On Tuesday, at least four people were killed and more than 10 injured when a drone struck a fuel station in the middle of the market in El Abbasiya Tagali, South Kordofan. Witnesses told Radio Dabanga that the injured were taken to the town’s hospital. The strike also damaged the station and several vehicles. Other sources reported that the same drone hit facilities in nearby Rashad, although the targets and extent of the damage remained unclear.

In Ed Damazin, the capital of Blue Nile region, drone attacks on several neighbourhoods killed a woman and a young man and wounded others on Tuesday evening, according to local sources. The strikes hit El Zahour, the Sudanese Armed Forces barracks area and El Ziraa El Aliya neighbourhoods, damaging a home.

The Blue Nile Civil Society Initiative identified the woman as Ilham Ali Shikan, a mother of three, and said another woman, Amal Bashir, was wounded. The initiative blamed the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and its ally, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North, for the attack and called for an end to strikes on civilians and civilian infrastructure.

Blue Nile governor Ahmed El Omda also condemned the attacks, describing them as an assault on civilians and civilian property.

‘UN warns of growing humanitarian toll’

The latest incidents come amid a wider campaign of drone strikes against electricity and fuel infrastructure across Sudan. The Arab League condemned repeated attacks it attributed to the RSF on energy facilities in Khartoum, El Gezira, Sennar, El Gedaref, River Nile, and Red Sea states.

The organisation said the strikes had severely damaged power facilities, knocked several out of service and cut electricity to large areas, worsening conditions for civilians. It warned that deliberately targeting power stations and other civilian infrastructure that does not constitute a military objective violates international humanitarian law and could amount to a war crime.

The United Nations also warned that continued drone attacks on critical energy infrastructure were disrupting essential services. UN Secretary-General spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said on Monday that the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) was deeply concerned about the attacks and their impact on people across several states.

According to reports cited by the UN, drones targeted two power stations in Kassala state and a substation in Merowe on Tuesday. Earlier attacks hit electricity facilities in River Nile state on Monday, a substation in Red Sea state on Saturday, and sites in North Kordofan and El Gezira.

UN humanitarian partners warned that power cuts and fuel shortages had disrupted clean water supplies, forcing residents to rely on untreated sources and increasing the risk of waterborne diseases.

Dujarric said the secretary-general strongly condemned the escalating drone attacks by parties to the conflict. In a statement issued two days earlier, the secretary-general said drone strikes had killed hundreds of civilians, including women and children, across Sudan and the Abyei area, in what he described as a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.

He also condemned attacks on civilians and the critical infrastructure they depend on, including healthcare facilities, and urged the warring parties to agree to an immediate cessation of hostilities and engage in mediation efforts led by his personal envoy to Sudan, Pekka Haavisto.

The Arab League reiterated its support for Sudan’s unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity. Its secretary-general also appointed Zaid Al-Sabban as his personal envoy for Sudan.