A humanitarian convoy transporting vital supplies to conflict-ravaged regions in central Sudan became the target of lethal drone strikes on Thursday, resulting in three fatalities and four injured aid workers. According to the Sudan Doctors Network, which monitors violence nationwide, the attack occurred in the Kartala area as trucks carried food and essential provisions toward the cities of Kadugli and Dilling in South Kordofan.
The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) were identified as responsible for the drone assault, though the specific aid organization operating the convoy remains undisclosed. This incident marks the second attack on humanitarian transport in under a month, following a previous strike on a World Food Program convoy in North Kordofan earlier in June.
These developments unfold against the backdrop of Sudan’s devastating internal conflict, which escalated into full-scale war in April 2023 between the national army and RSF fighters. The World Health Organization estimates the conflict has claimed at least 40,000 lives while displacing 12 million people, with actual casualty figures potentially significantly higher due to inaccessible conflict zones.
Despite military claims of having broken the siege on Kadugli and Dilling, Kordofan region has experienced intensified drone warfare that severely impedes aid operations and endangers civilians. February alone witnessed 77 fatalities from various aerial attacks in the region.
In a related development, a UN-backed fact-finding mission released a report Thursday detailing evidence of RSF crimes committed in North Darfur’s capital el-Fasher in late October, indicating ‘hallmarks of genocide.’ In response, the United States Treasury Department sanctioned three RSF commanders and renewed calls for immediate ceasefire implementation.
The strategic timing of these events highlights the deteriorating security situation, even as UN agencies successfully delivered aid to over 130,000 people in Dilling and Kadugli this week—the first major humanitarian shipment to reach these areas in three months.