Drone Warfare in Sudan Intensifies the Humanitarian Catastrophe
Kanako Mita, Sawako Utsumi, and Lee Jay Walker
Modern Tokyo Times
More than 300 people were killed by drone strikes in Sudan during the first three weeks of October 2026. Accordingly, Volker Türk, the UN human rights chief, condemned all parties to the war over the escalating use of drones and their devastating consequences for civilians.
He pointedly said: “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.”
These developments highlight the increasing complexity of the war and how this new stage of military escalation is proving exceptionally deadly for innocent civilians. Both the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) have been implicated in attacks that have killed people inside their homes, while visiting markets for food, inside hospitals and in other civilian settings. The growing reliance on drones has expanded the geographical reach of the conflict while exposing vulnerable communities to further devastation.
This is happening across Sudan. Civilians in Blue Nile, Darfur, Khartoum, Kordofan and other parts of this vast country face the consequences of drone warfare, alongside artillery, ground offensives and other forms of military action. Homes, markets, hospitals, displacement sites, power facilities and water sources have all been affected. Consequently, the distinction between the battlefield and the places where civilians attempt to sustain their lives is becoming increasingly fragile.
Seif Magango, spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), stated concerning a drone strike that hit Um Darfa hospital in Blue Nile on October 11: “Scores of civilians have been killed, including internally displaced persons, and vital infrastructure and services have been eviscerated, driving further displacement and deepening the already severe humanitarian crisis.”
The conflict pits the RSF and allied militias, accused of systematic atrocities and ethnically targeted violence, particularly against non-Arab communities in Darfur, against the SAF. The latter retains the backing of powerful regional and international interests while also facing accusations of grave abuses against civilians. The United Arab Emirates has, in turn, accused elements within the Sudanese military establishment of harbouring pro-Muslim Brotherhood sympathies.
These competing narratives reveal the wider geopolitical complexity of Sudan. This is not simply a domestic civil war, but a conflict increasingly shaped by regional rivalries, weapons supplies, strategic interests and external actors. The involvement and interests of outside powers risk prolonging a war in which military calculations repeatedly overshadow the urgent need to protect civilian lives. Yet, caught between these competing centres of power are Sudan’s civilians, whose homes, livelihoods and communities continue to be destroyed.
The United Nations has described the consequences with chilling clarity: “Relentless violence, famine and disease are fuelling a rising death toll among children in Sudan, while attacks on healthcare and a lack of aid access hamper efforts to help them.”
Darfur provides the most haunting historical warning. The region first burned itself into the world’s conscience during the 2003–2005 conflict, when Arab militias and forces associated with the Sudanese government were accused of campaigns of ethnic violence against Black African communities, including the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa. Hundreds of thousands of people died or were displaced amid atrocities that exposed the catastrophic consequences of impunity and international inaction.
Today, history appears painfully close to repeating itself. The fall of El Fasher to the RSF in October 2025 was followed by reports of mass killings and further displacement. A subsequent UN investigation documented more than 6,000 killings during the first three days of the final RSF offensive, including at least 4,400 people killed inside the city and more than 1,600 along escape routes. The UN report described violations that amounted to war crimes and possible crimes against humanity.
The pattern in 2026 remains deeply disturbing. Military advances continue to be accompanied by attacks on vulnerable communities, while civilians flee into areas where humanitarian assistance is already dangerously limited. Hence, the combination of ethnic persecution, mass displacement, hunger and the destruction of essential infrastructure threatens to deepen the country’s fragmentation beyond repair. For communities that have already endured previous cycles of violence, the fear is not simply of another battle, but of being abandoned to a renewed catastrophe.
The consequences extend beyond Darfur. UN News reported: “Peacekeepers with the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) this week visited communities affected by a drone attack on 19 October on Amiet Market and the Todach area in Abyei, the disputed oil-rich region between Sudan and South Sudan. The attack killed more than 80 people.”
The attack demonstrates the dangers of the conflict spilling into an already sensitive border region. Abyei’s disputed status and strategic importance add another geopolitical dimension to the unfolding tragedy. The reported deaths at Amiet Market underline how places associated with ordinary economic activity can become sites of mass civilian loss. Beyond the immediate casualties, the destruction of markets threatens livelihoods, disrupts local trade and places further pressure on communities already struggling to obtain food and basic necessities.
AFP News reported: “Africa’s third largest country, home to an estimated 50 million people, has been ravaged by the war, which aid workers estimate has killed more than 200,000 people.” This is an attributed estimate rather than a universally verified death toll, reflecting the immense difficulties of documenting losses amid continuing hostilities, displacement and restricted humanitarian access. Nevertheless, the scale of the reported suffering underscores the urgency of ending a conflict that has devastated civilian life on an extraordinary scale.
Sudan’s health service, already fragile before the war, is being pushed towards further collapse. The closure of the majority of hospitals in conflict-affected areas means that people wounded by drone strikes and other military attacks may have little or no access to emergency treatment. Pregnant women, children, the elderly and people with chronic illnesses are also placed at greater risk. The consequences extend well beyond those killed directly by weapons: untreated injuries, preventable diseases, malnutrition and the absence of essential medical care all contribute to the humanitarian death toll.
Education has suffered a similarly devastating blow. Approximately eight million children in the worst-affected areas have no access to schooling. Their lost education represents more than an immediate disruption to childhood. Prolonged displacement, insecurity and the destruction of educational facilities threaten an entire generation’s prospects, while hunger and psychological trauma further undermine their future. A country already scarred by conflict faces the prospect of enduring social and economic damage long after the fighting eventually subsides.
Overall, the escalating use of drone warfare is creating new and increasingly lethal ways to kill civilians in Sudan’s brutal conflict. The technology may alter the conduct and geographical reach of military operations, but it does not diminish the obligations of combatants under international humanitarian law. Civilians and civilian infrastructure must be protected, and credible allegations of unlawful attacks must be investigated with accountability pursued where responsibility is established.
Yet the persistence of competing internal and external interests offers little immediate reassurance that the war will end. As military factions seek territorial advantage and regional actors pursue their own strategic calculations, Sudan’s humanitarian emergency continues to deepen. Without meaningful diplomatic pressure, reliable humanitarian access and a credible political process, civilians will remain exposed to further violence, displacement, hunger and disease.
Sudan’s tragedy is not only the destruction caused by its combatants. It is also the failure to translate international concern into sufficient protection for those enduring the consequences. The people of Sudan need more than statements of condemnation: they need security, humanitarian assistance and a durable political settlement that places their lives above the competing ambitions of armed factions and outside powers. Until that happens, the country’s civilians face a deeply uncertain future, with drone warfare adding another deadly dimension to an already devastating conflict.
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