GENEVA — UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Friday strongly condemned an escalation in drone strikes across Sudan, after his office documented at least 306 deaths and hundreds of injuries from drone strikes in the first three weeks of October alone, the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) said in a statement.

Source: OHCHR press release, Oct 23, 2026

The strikes, attributed by OHCHR to both the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), hit homes, markets, hospitals and displacement sites, as well as power stations and water sources, in Kordofan, Darfur, Blue Nile, Khartoum and other states. Sudan's war between the SAF and the RSF erupted in April 2023.

Source: OHCHR press release, Oct 23, 2026

"The increasing use of drones, already accounting for the majority of conflict-related civilian deaths in Sudan this year, is deeply disturbing and is exacting a horrifying toll," Türk said. He said scores of civilians had been killed and the vital infrastructure they depend on destroyed, driving further displacement and deepening the humanitarian crisis, and he renewed his call on both parties to respect their obligations under international humanitarian law, including by not directing attacks against civilians and civilian objects.

Source: OHCHR press release, Oct 23, 2026

306deaths documented by OHCHR from drone strikes in the first three weeks of October
139people killed in the Dibab truck strike on October 18, OHCHR said
42civilians killed in strikes on the Bajaun gold-mining area, OHCHR said

OHCHR said drone strikes on displacement sites were a particularly disturbing trend. Between October 6 and 10, alleged drone strikes on shelters for displaced people in Ghubeish and El Nuhud in West Kordofan, attributed to the SAF, killed at least 25 civilians and injured 31 others, including women and children, it said. In Abu Shendi in Blue Nile on October 9, an alleged RSF drone struck a crowd of displaced people engaged in artisanal gold mining near a displacement site, killing at least 31 people, most of them women and children, according to OHCHR.

Source: OHCHR press release, Oct 23, 2026

Alleged RSF drones also struck the Bajaun gold-mining area in Gadeer locality, South Kordofan, on October 9 and 16, killing 42 civilians and injuring 25 others, OHCHR said. It said attacks on gold-mining areas are tied to the war economy sustaining the conflict, and noted that under the laws of war an object's financial contribution to the war effort is not by itself enough to make it a military objective.

Source: OHCHR press release, Oct 23, 2026

On October 18, at least 139 people were killed and dozens more injured when a transport truck was hit in a "double tap" repeat strike in Dibab, West Kordofan, an area controlled by the RSF, OHCHR said. It said markets in Al Dabba in North Darfur, Nyala in South Darfur and Al-Idea in West Kordofan were also hit, reportedly killing a total of 23 civilians, and an RSF-attributed strike on Um Darfa hospital in Blue Nile on October 11 seriously injured two health workers and left the facility non-operational.

Source: OHCHR press release, Oct 23, 2026

Türk said broader peace efforts must address the continued influx of arms fuelling the conflict, and urged both parties and their affiliates to commit to a ceasefire. A negotiated settlement with human rights at its core, underpinned by accountability, is the only feasible pathway to sustainable peace in Sudan, he added. UN News also reported Türk's condemnation on Friday, summarising the same OHCHR documentation of at least 306 deaths.

Source: UN News, Oct 23, 2026