More than 1,000 civilians have been killed in drone strikes in Sudan in the first five months of this year, the UN said on Monday, warning that the country's three-year civil war is entering a more dangerous phase as both sides increasingly deploy advanced weaponry against civilian areas.
“The conflict has deepened and expanded,” UN deputy Human Rights chief Awa Dabo told the Human Rights Council in Geneva, describing a sharp escalation in drone attacks by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
“The international community needs to act urgently – to protect the Sudanese people and to avert an even wider crisis,” she said.
The UN human rights office documented more than 1,000 civilians killed by drone strikes between January and May, accounting for roughly 80 per cent of all conflict-related civilian deaths recorded this year.
Both the army and the RSF have repeatedly launched drone attacks across the country, striking civilian infrastructure including areas previously untouched by active fighting, she said.
The UN documented at least 16 drone strikes on health facilities and 33 attacks on markets during the first five months of the year. Attacks have been concentrated in Darfur and Kordofan but are increasingly spreading to Blue Nile, White Nile and Khartoum states.
“Patterns of repeated aerial strikes, including by drones on markets, health facilities, and water and energy infrastructure raise serious concerns under international humanitarian law,” Ms Dabo said.
She warned that civilians were living in fear as hostilities intensified in border regions including North Darfur and Blue Nile.
The comments came as the UN's Fact-Finding Mission on Sudan reported arbitrary detention, torture and enforced disappearances by both sides in the conflict, and it called for an immediate end to violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.
The UAE said there was no military solution to the conflict and blamed Sudan's collapse on a power struggle between rival generals.
“The only viable path is an inclusive, independent, civilian-led transition that reflects the aspirations of the Sudanese people,” said Shahad Matar, the UAE's deputy ambassador in Geneva, adding that neither warring party should have a role in determining Sudan's future.
Kumar Iyer, Britain's representative to the World Trade Organisation and UN in Geneva, said the growing use of drones was worsening the humanitarian crisis.
“The expanding use of drones is intensifying humanitarian need, with over 880 civilians reportedly killed by drone strikes this year alone,” he said. “We deplore the continued targeting of civilian infrastructure, including schools, markets, and hospitals.”
He called on both the SAF and RSF to comply with international humanitarian law, facilitate humanitarian access and end hostilities.
Russia called for an end to the fighting while criticising RSF efforts to establish parallel governing structures in territories under its control.
“We advocate for the preservation of the unity, territorial integrity, and sovereignty of Sudan,” Russia's representative said.
Separately, a coalition of human rights organisations urged the Human Rights Council to extend the mandate of its Sudan Fact-Finding Mission by at least two years, describing it as the only internationally recognised independent mechanism investigating abuses committed since the war erupted in April 2023.
"We believe the FFM needs to dig deep into the root causes of armed conflicts in Sudan in order to establish the facts and circumstances, and address fundamental questions," they said in a letter to the UN Secretary General.
