UN Warns Sudan Drone Warfare Driving Civilian Death Toll Surge
Geneva-The United Nations said on Monday that at least 880 civilians were killed in drone strikes across Sudan between January and April this year, warning that the conflict was entering a “new, even deadlier phase” as armed drones increasingly dominate the battlefield.
In a statement issued in Geneva, the UN human rights office said its Sudan monitoring team had determined that drone attacks accounted for more than 80 percent of all conflict-related civilian deaths recorded during the first four months of 2026.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said the rapid expansion of drone warfare had transformed the nature of the conflict.“Armed drones have now become by far and away the leading cause of civilian deaths,” Turk said.
The warning underscores escalating concerns among humanitarian agencies and international observers over the intensifying use of unmanned aerial systems in Sudan’s civil war, which erupted in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
The conflict has devastated large parts of the country, displaced millions of civilians and triggered what aid organizations describe as one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.The UN did not specify which parties were responsible for the drone strikes cited in its report, but rights monitors have repeatedly warned that the growing availability of armed drone technology has widened the scale and reach of attacks on populated areas.
Human rights officials cautioned that the increasing reliance on drones risked accelerating civilian casualties while further complicating efforts to secure ceasefires or humanitarian access.
Sudan’s capital Khartoum and several regions including Darfur have witnessed heavy fighting, air strikes and widespread destruction since the war began, with repeated allegations of violations of international humanitarian law by both sides.
International mediation efforts led by regional powers, the African Union and the United Nations have so far failed to produce a durable ceasefire.
