Khartoum, October 20 — A wave of drone attacks across Sudan has killed more than 160 people in recent days, according to medics and rights organisations, in one of the deadliest escalations of the country's civil war. The attacks have been blamed on both sides — the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), who have been fighting since 2023 — and rights groups warn that the growing use of drones is driving up civilian casualties. The United Nations has condemned the escalation, according to reports.

The deadliest single incident was near a market in Al-Dibab, a town in RSF-controlled West Kordofan state in the southwest, on Sunday evening. Residents and medical workers said a drone struck a transport hub where villagers had gathered to find rides home after market day, killing 80 people. A medical source told the AFP news agency that 47 wounded people were taken to the nearby town of Al-Mujlad, where 30 of them later died from their injuries. The RSF's self-declared administration, known as Tasis, and the rights group Emergency Lawyers accused the army of carrying out the Al-Dibab strike; the claim has not been independently verified.

Other attacks were reported across the country. An RSF drone attack on Friday hit a gathering of displaced people in Blue Nile province, on the border with Ethiopia, killing 41 people, Emergency Lawyers said. Early on Monday, a drone struck Nyala, the RSF stronghold and capital of South Darfur, killing 17 people including seven RSF officers, according to medical and RSF sources. Drone attacks on Khartoum on Monday killed three children, Emergency Lawyers said. One witness to the Al-Dibab attack, Ahmed Wadi, told The Guardian he had helped bury 50 bodies, one of them his own brother.

Separately, a military source said on Sunday that air defence systems had intercepted multiple RSF drones targeting the Atbara and Setit dams in eastern Sudan; the RSF had not responded to that claim at the time of reporting. Sudan's war has displaced millions and, with markets, transport hubs and displaced communities now among the places being hit, aid groups say the drone escalation is putting food and relief routes at further risk.

Sources: Al Jazeera; AFP reporting via The Munich Eye; The Guardian witness reporting; Emergency Lawyers statements as reported.