Sudanupdated 2h ago3 min read
Rapid Support Forces Drone Strike Kills About 40 Civilians in Sudan’s Blue Nile
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RSF drone strike hit a displacement camp in Blue Nile, killing about 30–40 civilians. Most victims were women and children, according to multiple reports.
Blue Nile drone strike
The United Nations said on Friday that preliminary information indicates the possible death of about 40 civilians, most of them women and children, after a drone strike hit a site hosting displaced people in Blue Nile state in southeastern Sudan near the border with Ethiopia. OCHA said it voiced shock at the “horrific reports” and added that “preliminary information from the ground indicates the possible death of 40 civilians, most of them women and children.” The Sudanese government demanded an independent international investigation into a drone strike it said targeted a water source in Abu Shendi area of Wad Madani locality in Blue Nile state, accusing the Rapid Support Forces of carrying it out.
The Sudan Doctors Network announced the death of 31 civilians and injury of 19 others in a drone strike attributed to the Rapid Support Forces, saying it targeted a gathering of displaced people in Abu Shendi. On Wednesday, Emergency Lawyers and Civil Society Initiative reported the killing of 4 civilians and injuries to dozens due to drone bombing attributed to the Rapid Support Forces in Demazin, the capital of Blue Nile state.
Competing death tolls
Al Jazeera reported that at least 30 displaced people, including women and children, were killed and dozens wounded after a drone attack in southeastern Sudan. Governor Mahjoub Al-Sheikh described the attack as “cowardly,” and he said the drone was launched from “inside Ethiopia,” according to the AFP news agency. Al Jazeera Arabic’s Sudan correspondent Wadah Al-Tahir said the attack was the latest in a wave of drone strikes targeting the Blue Nile region, and the strike hit Wad al-Mahi province near the city of Damazin.
An Anadolu Ajansi report said the United Nations told it that initial information indicates the possibility that about 40 civilians were killed, most of them women and children, by a strike believed to have been carried out by a drone at a site housing displaced people in Blue Nile State. An Asharq Al-Awsat report, citing an official and eyewitnesses, said a drone strike launched by Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces killed 26 women and four children near the southeastern border with Ethiopia.
International probe and escalation
The Sudanese government called for an independent international investigation into a drone strike it said targeted a water source in Abu Shendi area of Wad Madani locality in Blue Nile state, accusing the Rapid Support Forces of carrying it out. OCHA renewed its condemnation that attacks against civilians are prohibited under international humanitarian law, calling for accountability for those responsible for grave violations. In a separate incident, military sources told Al-Sharq Al-Akhbar that the city of El Obeid, capital of North Kordofan state, was targeted by drone attacks carried out by the Rapid Support Forces.
Al-Sharq Al-Akhbar said El Obeid houses the headquarters of the Fifth Infantry Division of the Sudanese Army, known as the Janjaweed, and serves as an important hub for military operations amid ongoing fighting in the Darfur region. Radio Dabanga reported that an RSF drone attack on El Obeid on Friday morning injured six civilians, and it said the strike also damaged residential houses and destroyed six vehicles.