Drone Strikes on Civilian Vehicles Kill at Least 20 in Sudan, Rights Groups Say

Drone attacks on civilian vehicles in Sudan have resulted in the deaths of over 20 people in recent days, human rights organizations report. The increasing use of unmanned aircraft has become a grim feature of the ongoing conflict in the northeast African nation.

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This attack is part of an escalating pattern of drone attacks on civilians as drones continue to fly over the northern parts of the province... monitoring residents’ movements.

In a particularly tragic incident, a drone strike on the outskirts of Khartoum killed 10 civilians, including five women from the same family, who were on their way to a wedding. The Sudan Doctors Network, which has been documenting violence between the military and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since the war began four years ago, attributed Tuesday's attack to the RSF. An eyewitness described the vehicle catching fire immediately, killing all occupants.

The Sudan Doctors Network condemned the strike as deliberate and called for international intervention to compel RSF leadership to cease targeting civilians. Separately, another drone strike on Tuesday near a water facility killed two people, according to Emergency Lawyers. The previous day, 13 civilians, including five women, died when a drone hit their vehicle en route to a wedding in North Kordofan province. Emergency Lawyers noted this attack is part of a pattern of escalating drone strikes in the region, with drones monitoring residents' movements.

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The medical aid group, which has been tracking violence between the military and the Rapid Support Forces throughout the war, which is in its fourth year, blamed Tuesday's attack on a road west of Omdurman, the sister city of the capital, Khartoum, on the RSF.

North Kordofan has experienced a surge in drone strikes amid concerns that the RSF is advancing on the strategic city of el-Obeid. The conflict, which erupted in April 2023, has claimed at least 59,000 lives, displaced 13 million people, and pushed large parts of the country toward famine, with over 30 million people requiring humanitarian assistance.

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The vehicle immediately caught fire and all 10 people inside died.