UN Warns Drone Warfare Escalating Sudan Conflict, Civilian Deaths Mount

— The United Nations has issued a stark warning that the surge in drone warfare in Sudan’s protracted civil war is driving civilian casualties to unprecedented levels and intensifying the conflict’s danger.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk stated that drone strikes accounted for over 80 percent of civilian deaths between January and April 2026, killing at least 880 civilians. He stressed that the reliance on drones by both the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) is expanding the war into new theatres, including Kordofan, Blue Nile, and Khartoum.

Türk noted that while Sudan’s rainy season has historically slowed ground combat, drones now enable attacks to continue in adverse weather, prolonging violence. Humanitarian agencies warn that strikes are increasingly targeting civilians, hospitals, aid convoys, markets, funerals, and shelters for displaced people, deepening the crisis as the war enters its fourth year.

The High Commissioner cautioned that escalating violence risks worsening famine and further obstructing already limited humanitarian relief. He urged the international community to immediately halt the transfer of weapons and advanced drones to all warring parties, insisting that attacks on civilians and infrastructure must never be normalized.