The war in Sudan has escalated with drone strikes intensifying over residential areas, resulting in civilian casualties. The UN has documented significant fatalities due to drone attacks. The worst of the incidents happened on November 5. Dozens had gathered from afar for a funeral when an ambulance belonging to the army-aligned Joint Forces drove past, and soon after a drone followed. The drone, directed by the RSF, fired on the funeral gathering, killing 65 people, all of them women and children.
KHARTOUM JANUARY 22: The war in Sudan, particularly in Al-Obeid and the Kordofan region, has escalated with drone strikes intensifying over residential areas, resulting in civilian casualties including women and children. Reports indicate over 100 new graves in Al-Obeid within two weeks, as the Sudanese army faces pressure from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The UN has documented significant fatalities due to drone attacks, highlighting instances where entire gatherings were targeted, causing mass casualties. The RSF has shifted tactics, utilizing drone warfare since gaining control in Darfur, with Al-Obeid becoming a strategic focus for supply lines. Despite ongoing military actions, humanitarian crises grow, with millions facing severe shortages of food, water, and medical assistance.
The UN is alarmed by the continuing harm to civilians and the growing numbers of displaced people as fighting spreads to several parts of the country, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.
– “The violence continues to drive people from their homes, and it must stop,” he added.
In the al-Obeid area, residents say the worst of the incidents happened on November 5 in al-Luweib village. Dozens had gathered from afar for a funeral when an ambulance belonging to the army-aligned Joint Forces drove past, and soon after a drone followed. The drone, which residents assumed was directed by the RSF, fired on the funeral gathering, killing 65 people, all of them women and children, according to four al-Luweib residents.
The incident echoes frequent attacks documented by Reuters in al-Fashir, Darfur, near or against ambulances and clinics alleged by the RSF to be harbouring enemy forces.
