Sudan Drone Strikes: More Than 160 Killed as RSF Drones Target Atbara and Setit DamsSudan Drone Strikes: More Than 160 Killed as RSF Drones Target Atbara and Setit Dams

The strikes extend the war's reach to the trade routes and infrastructure that move food and aid, at a time when the United Nations says 33.7 million people need urgent food support this year. For Kenyan and East African traders who depend on Sudan and South Sudan corridors, the attacks add another layer of risk to cross-border commerce.

Where the strikes landed

The deadliest reported strike hit a transport hub in Al-Dibab, in RSF-controlled West Kordofan, on Sunday evening, where villagers had gathered after a market day to find rides home. Residents and medical workers said 80 people were killed. A medical source told AFP that 47 wounded people were taken to nearby Al-Mujlad, where 30 later died.

On Friday, an RSF drone hit a gathering of displaced people in Blue Nile province, near the Ethiopian border, killing 41, according to Emergency Lawyers, which called it "a humanitarian tragedy". Early on Monday, a drone struck Nyala, the RSF stronghold and capital of South Darfur, killing 17 people, including seven RSF officers, and wounding 23, according to medical and RSF sources. Drone attacks in Khartoum on Monday killed three children, Emergency Lawyers said.

The attacks have been blamed on both the RSF and government forces. The RSF's self-declared administration, Tasis, and Emergency Lawyers accused the army of the Al-Dibab strike.

Dams in the line of fire

A military source said air defences intercepted several RSF drones aimed at the Atbara and Setit dams in Gadaref state, about 420 km east of Khartoum, on Sunday. The RSF had not commented at the time of reporting.

Dams matter beyond the battlefield because they supply water and electricity and support irrigation in a country where farming and food supply are already under strain. No damage to either dam has been reported in the material reviewed by Mwenendo.

Hunger and the diplomatic backdrop

The United Nations condemned the attacks on Monday. Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said: "We are alarmed by the continued deadly drone strikes across the country."

The UN estimates that 33.7 million people, including 17.3 million children, urgently need food support this year, and that 825,000 children face severe acute malnutrition. About 13 million people have been displaced since the war began in April 2023, and ACLED has recorded at least 59,000 deaths, with aid groups saying the true toll is likely higher.

The United States urged the UN Security Council on Friday to push for a humanitarian truce and to expand an arms embargo, a proposal that China and Russia opposed.

What it means for regional trade

Attacks on markets and transport hubs hit the lorries, traders and fuel supplies that keep food moving. Mwenendo earlier reported on how supply chains survive in Sudan's conflict zones, where grain and medicine move through commercial transport networks.

As Mwenendo earlier reported, Kenya and South Sudan moved to protect a critical supply corridor as regional trade faces pressure from the conflict.

No official figures on trade or aid volumes affected by this week's strikes have been published. The numbers to watch are the next UN humanitarian updates and any Security Council decision on the truce proposal.