More than 1,000 civilians were killed in drone strikes in Sudan during the first five months of 2026, the United Nations human rights chief said on Sunday, describing the scale of attacks as one of the most severe aerial bombardment campaigns targeting non-combatants anywhere in the world.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk presented the figures to the Human Rights Council in Geneva, saying the data was compiled from verified reports by UN field teams, partner organisations, and survivor testimony. He said the 1,000-plus figure is likely an undercount because access to conflict-affected areas has been severely restricted.
The strikes have been attributed primarily to the Rapid Support Forces, the paramilitary group that has been fighting the Sudanese Armed Forces since April 2023 in a civil war that has produced one of the largest humanitarian crises in the world. The RSF has used commercially available and modified drones to strike residential areas, markets, hospitals, and displacement camps in Darfur and Kordofan states.
The Sudanese Armed Forces have also conducted air strikes, including on areas in RSF-controlled territory. The UN said both parties to the conflict have used explosive weapons in populated areas in ways that violate international humanitarian law.
Sudan’s civil war has displaced over 11 million people internally and pushed more than 2 million refugees into neighbouring Chad, Egypt, and South Sudan. The conflict has received comparatively little international media attention despite its scale, a point Turk raised directly in his remarks.
Several international diplomatic attempts to broker a ceasefire have failed. The United States, Saudi Arabia, and the African Union have all hosted mediation talks that collapsed without agreement. The RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces remain in active conflict across a wide front.
Humanitarian organisations operating in Sudan say access to affected populations has deteriorated significantly. Food insecurity is at catastrophic levels in several regions, and the UN has warned of famine conditions in parts of Darfur.
The UN Security Council has held sessions on Sudan but has not agreed on enforceable measures, with major powers split on how to respond to the conflict.
