Drone strikes across Sudan reported to have killed more than 160 people

More than 160 people have died in a series of drone attacks across Sudan in recent days, according to medics and rights organisations.

Emergency Lawyers, a group monitoring civilian harm during Sudan's civil war, reported that drone strikes on Khartoum killed three children on Monday. The group also said that over 160 people had died in attacks in western regions of the country since Friday.

Responsibility for the attacks was attributed to both the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and government military forces, who have been engaged in conflict since 2023. Civilian casualties have been rising as drone use has increased in recent months.

The most severe single incident took place near a market in Al-Dibab, a town in West Kordofan state in the southwest controlled by the RSF, on Sunday evening. According to residents and medical staff, a drone struck an area where villagers had gathered to find transport home after market day, killing 80 people.

A further 47 injured people were transported to the nearby town of Al-Mujlad, where 30 of them later died from their wounds, a medical source told the AFP news agency.

The RSF's self-proclaimed administrative body, known as Tasis, along with Emergency Lawyers, blamed the army for the Al-Dibab strike.

Separately, a military source said on Sunday that air defence systems had intercepted multiple RSF drones targeting the Atbara and Setit dams in Gadaref state, roughly 420km east of Khartoum. The RSF had not responded to the claim at the time of reporting.