UN rights chief says drone strikes killed 306 Sudanese in October
October 24, 2026 (KHARTOUM) – United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk revealed that drone strikes killed 306 Sudanese people and injured hundreds more during October.
The UN Human Rights Office reported on Sept. 4 that 1,120 civilians had been killed by drone strikes, accounting for more than 80% of total civilian deaths.
Turk said in a statement on Friday that the human rights commission documented the deaths of at least 306 people and injuries to hundreds more from drone attacks during the first three weeks of October.
He explained that the drone strikes, attributed to both the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), targeted civilian objects and infrastructure, including homes, markets, hospitals, displacement sites, power plants, and water sources.
Turk condemned the escalation of drone strikes across Sudan and their devastating consequences for civilians in Kordofan, Darfur, Blue Nile, Khartoum, and other states.
The increasing use of drones, which have already caused the majority of civilian deaths resulting from the conflict in Sudan this year, is a matter of grave concern and is leaving a horrific human toll, he added.
He noted that retaliatory strikes are becoming a growing concern. Drones attributed to the RSF carried out attacks on Khartoum, including the airport area, reportedly in response to airstrikes allegedly conducted by the army on Nyala in South Darfur state.
The warring parties have doubled their use of drones since the beginning of this year, with the frequency of strikes increasing to an almost daily occurrence in October.
Turk renewed his call for the conflicting parties to respect their clear and binding obligations under international humanitarian law, including refraining from directing attacks against civilians and civilian objects.
He said the human rights commission documented several drone attacks on displacement sites sheltering people previously forced to flee the fighting.
Drone attacks attributed to the army on displacement shelters in the cities of Ghibeish and El Nahud in West Kordofan state between Oct. 6 and Oct. 10 killed 25 civilians and injured 31, including women and children, he reported.
Turk explained that a drone strike allegedly carried out by the RSF on Oct. 9 targeted a gathering of displaced people working in artisanal mining near a shelter in Abu Shindi in the Blue Nile region, killing 31 people, mostly women and children.
He also mentioned the killing of 42 civilians and the injury of 25 others in an attack attributed to the RSF on a gold mining area in the Bajoun area of Gadir locality in South Kordofan on Oct. 9 and Oct. 16.
Turk stressed that attacks on gold mining areas are tied to the war economy’s role in perpetuating the conflict, raising serious concerns about the deliberate targeting of sites with economic value to the opposing party.
He continued, saying that under the laws of war, the contribution of objects to financing the war effort alone is not enough to consider them a military objective.
Turk stated that on Oct. 18, 139 people were killed and dozens injured when a transport vehicle was targeted in a double strike in the Dibab area of West Kordofan state, which is under RSF control.
He indicated that markets are being subjected to drone attacks at an alarming rate, with areas including Ed Debba in North Darfur, Nyala in South Darfur, and El Odaya in West Kordofan witnessing deadly attacks that reportedly killed 23 civilians.
On Oct. 13, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) reported more than 170 airstrikes, looting incidents, or armed clashes in Kordofan markets this year, with the conflict concentrating on livestock-owning communities, pastoralists, and agricultural gatherings.
Turk said an RSF-attributed strike on Oct. 11 at the Um Darfa hospital in Blue Nile severely injured two health workers and took the facility out of service.
Peace efforts must address the continuous flow of weapons fueling the conflict and press for a halt to the transfer of weapons used in blatant disregard for international humanitarian law obligations aimed at protecting civilians, he added.
He called for a negotiated settlement with human rights at its core, based on accountability for the widespread violations and abuses currently being committed, as the only achievable path to sustainable peace in Sudan.