Drone attacks are exacting a mounting civilian toll in Sudan. The UN Human Rights Office documented at least 306 deaths and hundreds of injuries in the first three weeks of October alone, with strikes attributed to both the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
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7 A deadly October 26 strike on a market in Nyala illustrates both the scale of the violence and the difficulty of establishing a single, verified casualty count.
Guterres condemns escalating attacks
On October 31, UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the escalating drone attacks and their catastrophic impact on civilians. His spokesperson said strikes across Sudan and in Abyei had killed hundreds, including women and children. Guterres called for civilians and critical infrastructure to be protected and for an immediate cessation of hostilities.
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The UN’s October figures show the attacks reached homes, markets, hospitals, displacement sites, power stations and water sources in several parts of the country. The UN attributed strikes to both sides of the conflict.
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7 Its human rights chief, Volker Türk, also condemned the escalation.
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Nyala market strike: reports differ on the toll
A drone struck Tanqonj Market in Nyala’s Doumaya neighbourhood on the evening of October 26, around 8 p.m., according to reporting on the attack. Nyala is the capital of South Darfur and an RSF stronghold. Reports attributed the strike to the Sudanese army.
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The casualty figures are not consistent, and the reports measure different things:
- Witnesses and a medical source initially told AFP that 21 people were killed and 40 injured.
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- Emergency Lawyers later reported 102 deaths and 113 injuries.
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- Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said a hospital it supports received 36 bodies and treated more than 150 wounded people.
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These figures should not be treated as interchangeable: a hospital’s reported admissions are not necessarily a full count of casualties across the attack. The available reports do not establish an independently verified final toll.
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The market was described as crowded and frequented by paramilitary fighters. Emergency Lawyers said most of the victims were women and children.
5 That description does not resolve the attack’s attribution or the precise number killed.
Wider attacks and an investigation in Abyei
The UN’s count of at least 306 people killed covers drone strikes across Sudan in the first three weeks of October, not just the Nyala attack. The documented targets included civilian sites and essential infrastructure.
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Separately, a UN mission said it was investigating a reported October 19 drone attack on a market in Abyei. The UN account put the toll at at least 80 and said the attack was reportedly carried out by forces of Sudan’s military government.
33 Another report cited a local toll above 150 and said Sudan’s government denied army involvement.
47 The accounts therefore differ on both the reported death toll and responsibility.
What the reporting establishes—and what remains unclear
The available evidence establishes a broad pattern of deadly drone strikes, a UN-documented civilian toll of at least 306 during October’s first three weeks, and urgent UN calls to protect civilians and critical infrastructure and stop the fighting.
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It does not settle the final casualty count or independently verify responsibility for the Nyala strike. The reports also describe separate attacks and investigations in other locations; those should not be conflated with the Nyala market strike or with the UN’s nationwide October tally.