Dozens killed in intense airstrikes on Sudan’s Nyala

October 27, 2026 (NYALA) – Dozens of people, including members of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), were killed in intense airstrikes targeting various locations in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur state, on Monday evening.

For about a week, the Sudanese army has intensified its air sorties targeting the South Darfur capital in an unprecedented aerial escalation.

Military sources say the army aims, through its intensive air operations in Darfur and Kordofan, to strip the RSF of its defensive and offensive capabilities in preparation for a ground assault.

These air operations have destroyed the RSF command-and-control headquarters and the civil authority headquarters.

The strikes also targeted the homes of the forces’ commanders, along with air defence systems near Nyala International Airport.

A local source told Sudan Tribune that at least 20 people were killed and dozens injured in an airstrike targeting two locations in Nyala on Monday evening.

The source noted that one of the raids hit the Tangooj night market in the Doumaya area.

The market is usually crowded with civilians and also had RSF recruits present, resulting in heavy casualties.

Pro-RSF activists circulated videos on social media showing the bodies of numerous RSF fighters who were killed when a drone targeted their gathering point in the town of Doumaya in Nyala.

Eyewitnesses reported that the intense drone strikes also targeted the headquarters of the 16th Infantry Division and adjacent sites.

The strikes further hit homes believed to belong to RSF commanders in the Al-Nahda, Al-Riyadh, and Al-Matar neighbourhoods.

Witnesses stated that the attack also reached the Mousia student housing complex affiliated with the University of Nyala.

Military sources said the RSF has converted several civilian institutions in Nyala, including well-built student housing at the University of Nyala, into centres for gathering and training foreign and Sudanese fighters.

The sources added that this training includes combat tactics and the operation of drones and air defence systems.