More than 300 people have reportedly been killed in drone strikes in Sudan’s West Kordofan state and the disputed Abyei region, with the attacks raising tensions between Sudan and neighbouring South Sudan.
The reported strikes targeted multiple locations over Sunday and Monday, including a truck carrying mourners travelling to a funeral and a market in the oil-rich Abyei region.
According to the Sudan War Observatory, 150 people were killed in two strikes in West Kordofan on Sunday evening. The monitoring group said 145 people died when a truck carrying about 200 mourners was hit as it arrived in Al-Dabab, while five others were killed when a nearby funeral gathering tent was struck.
About 150 people were reportedly injured in the attacks.
A separate drone strike hit a market in Al-Mujlad, also in West Kordofan. The exact number of casualties from that attack had not been established.
In Abyei, at least 153 people were reported killed when a drone struck Amiet Market on Monday, according to Yohanna Akol Ngor, the region’s caretaker information minister. The attack hit a nearby fuel depot, triggering a fire that hampered recovery efforts.
Akol blamed Sudan’s military for the strike, although the Associated Press reported that it could not independently verify who carried it out. A Sudanese military source told the BBC that the army had targeted a fuel supply point allegedly serving the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
South Sudan has summoned Sudan’s ambassador to formally protest the Abyei attack, which has heightened concerns about the conflict spilling further across the shared border.
Abyei is a disputed, oil-rich territory claimed by both countries. Its status remained unresolved when South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011.
The United Nations has expressed alarm over the growing use of armed drones in Sudan, warning that the attacks are taking a heavy toll on civilians and damaging critical infrastructure.
UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said the violence was unfolding amid a worsening humanitarian crisis, with millions facing acute hunger and famine risks increasing in parts of Darfur and Greater Kordofan.
Greater Kordofan is strategically important because it links Darfur, where the RSF holds extensive territory, to Khartoum, which is under the control of Sudan’s army.
The war between Sudan’s military and the RSF began in April 2023 and has displaced millions of people while devastating essential services and worsening food insecurity across the country.
The latest attacks add to concerns over civilian protection as fighting intensifies in Kordofan, a region with significant gold and oil resources. Sudan’s army has not responded to allegations that it carried out the West Kordofan strikes, but has said it does not deliberately target civilians.
