Sudanese Drone Escalation Kills Over 160 Civilians

The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have intensified their use of unmanned aerial vehicles, resulting in more than 160 civilian deaths in recent days. This shift toward long-range drone warfare has moved the conflict into residential neighborhoods and critical infrastructure across the country.

Recent strikes include an attack on a transport hub in al-Dabba that killed 80 people, a strike on displaced persons in Blue Nile province that killed 41, and an attack on Nyala that killed 17. The SAF maintains its strikes target RSF command centers and supply lines, while the RSF accuses the military of carrying out massacres in markets.

The United Nations condemned the strikes for killing children and disrupting central services. An investigation by the Centre for Information Resilience identified 21 drone models from Iran, Russia, China, and Turkiye being utilized in the conflict.