UN condemns deadly RSF drone strike on Sudan displacement camp

October 10, 2026 (KHARTOUM) – The United Nations strongly condemned a drone strike blamed on Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces that killed at least 31 civilians, mostly women and children, near a displacement site in Blue Nile state.

The attack struck on Friday next to the Abu Shindi shelter site in Wad al-Mahi, an area under the control of the Sudanese Armed Forces that has faced repeated assaults over the past week, regional officials said.

“I am horrified by reports of a drone strike next to a displacement site in Wad Al Mahi, Blue Nile State,” Denise Brown, the UN resident and humanitarian coordinator in Sudan, said in a statement on Saturday.

Brown called for direct accountability over the mounting civilian toll, warning that casualty figures could climb further as dozens remained hospitalized with serious injuries.

“Condemning these senseless killings is essential, but there must also be accountability for this flagrant disregard for international humanitarian law,” Brown said.

She noted that families sheltered at the camp had already fled fighting in nearby Geissan and Kurmuk localities before being struck again.

“As each day goes by in this war, the world continues to accept the suffering of the people of Sudan,” Brown added, demanding that combatants respect binding protections for civilians and aid workers.

A spokesperson for the paramilitary RSF did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and Reuters could not independently verify the casualty numbers or who launched the attack.

The UN children’s agency UNICEF said five children under the age of 10 were among the dead, warning that displacement shelters are increasingly coming under fire across Sudan’s battlefronts.

The strike marks an escalation around the regional capital of Ed Damazin, where the army is battling an alliance between the RSF and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North that has pushed toward government-held hubs in southeastern Sudan.