The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, reported this Friday that at least 306 people have lost their lives and hundreds have been injured due to drone attacks recorded during the month of October in Sudan, a country immersed in a civil war since April 2023.
Turk has expressed his deep concern over the increase in fatalities linked to this type of offensive in recent weeks and lamented the "devastating consequences" that they are having for the civilian population in states such as Darfur, Kordofan, Khartoum, or Blue Nile, among other affected territories.
"The increasing use of drones, which this year already accounts for the majority of civilian deaths related to the conflict in Sudan, is deeply alarming and is taking a terrifying toll," said the UN Human Rights chief, who insisted in a statement that these attacks are attributed to both the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
According to the information gathered by his office, drones have repeatedly struck civilian targets and infrastructure, including homes, markets, hospitals, and displaced persons settlements, as well as power plants and water sources. "Dozens of civilians have lost their lives, and vital infrastructure and services they depend on have been destroyed, causing new displacements and worsening the already serious humanitarian crisis," he emphasized.
In this context, Turk has reiterated his call to all warring parties to fully respect their clear and binding obligations under International Humanitarian Law, which expressly prohibits targeting civilians and civilian objects.
"In a particularly concerning trend, numerous drone attacks have been documented against displacement sites where people who have already been forced to flee the fighting have taken refuge," he explained. "These attacks have led to an increase in the number of casualties among internally displaced persons," added the High Commissioner.
The collected data indicates that between October 6 and 10, alleged drone attacks against shelters for internally displaced persons in Ghubeish and El Nuhud, in Western Kordofan —attributed to the RSF— caused at least 25 civilian deaths and 31 injuries, including women and children.
On October 9, in the Blue Nile state, a drone struck a group of internally displaced persons working in artisanal gold mining near a displacement settlement, in an action that left at least 31 dead, mostly women and minors.
That same month, on October 9 and 16, several drones —presumably operated by the RSF— attacked the mining area of Bajaun, in the locality of Gadeer, causing the death of 42 civilians and injuring another 25.
"Attacks on gold extraction areas are linked to the war economy that sustains the conflict and raise serious doubts about whether places that have economic value for the opposing side are being deliberately targeted," Turk has asserted, warning of the economic dimension of the conflict.
The High Commissioner has also emphasized that "according to the laws of war, the financial contribution of an object to the war effort is not, by itself, sufficient to make it a military target," and has denounced that vehicles and "concentrations of civilians continue to be the subject of attacks."
In this regard, he recalled that only on October 18 at least 139 people died in an attack on a truck in Dibab, in Western Kordofan. In his view, "broader efforts for peace must directly address the ongoing influx of weapons that fuels the conflict and demand an end to the transfer of armaments that are used with a manifest disregard for the obligations of International Law aimed at protecting civilians."
"I urge both parties in conflict, as well as their allies, to commit to a ceasefire," Turk has stated, emphasizing that a negotiated solution constitutes the "only viable path to achieving sustainable peace in Sudan."