Rising civilian toll in Sudan as drone strikes intensify in Blue Nile and Sennar

At least one person was killed and several others injured after drones struck El Kurmuk locality in the Blue Nile region, according to government reports. The attack reportedly targeted positions held by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement–North (SPLM-N El Hilu).

Governor of El Kurmuk, Abdulati Mohamed El Faki, told Radio Dabanga that the drone strike hit several neighbourhoods and disrupted operations at one of the town’s grain mills. “We condemn this attack in the strongest terms,” he said, emphasising that the situation in the locality remains under the control of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF).

Military operations have intensified in southern Blue Nile, along the borders with Ethiopia and South Sudan, with both sides exchanging aerial strikes.

In Sennar state, armed groups renewed drone attacks near the El Mazmoum area on Wednesday. Reports on the exact targets vary. SAF loyalists said the strike hit a truck carrying around 800 bags of sorghum southwest of El Mazmoum and published images showing the vehicle ablaze. RSF loyalists, however, claimed the attack targeted a camp in the area. Radio Dabanga has not independently verified these claims.

Both the Sudan Doctors Network and the Civil Democratic Alliance (Somoud) reported that a drone strike hit a hospital in the El Mazmoum area on Sunday, killing three people and injuring seven others. Both groups accused the RSF of carrying out the attack.

Other sources denied the hospital itself was directly hit, saying drones targeted SAF positions roughly 500 metres to the north, including the headquarters of the 66^th Brigade and nearby military posts. An officer, six soldiers and a child inside a neighbouring house were reportedly injured and transferred to Singa hospital for treatment.

Across Kordofan, Darfur, Blue Nile, and Sennar, ground military operations have slowed, while drone attacks have surged, leaving civilians increasingly at risk.

‘60+ dead in two days’

More than 60 people have been killed in a series of drone attacks across Sudan’s Darfur, Kordofan, and Sennar states over a 48-hour period, according to witnesses, lawyers’ groups and medical networks.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk expressed in a statement on Wednesday, alarm at reports that more than 50 civilians were killed in drone strikes carried out by parties to the conflict in Sudan over two days this week.

“These latest killings are yet another reminder of the devastating consequences on civilians of the escalating use of drone warfare in Sudan,” Türk said.

He added that the attacks “perpetuate a pattern that we have seen time and again in this conflict of attacks on civilian objects and infrastructure, including markets, health facilities and schools.”