ED DAMAZIN – The Sudan Doctors Network said 31 civilians, including four children, were killed in a drone attack it attributed to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on a displacement shelter in Abu Shendi, Wad Al-Mahi locality in Blue Nile.
Blue Nile Governor Ahmed Al-Omda Badi separately confirmed that a shelter housing displaced people had been targeted in the area.
The doctors’ network said 19 people were injured, including six children and eight women.
Badi gave a different casualty figure, saying 26 people were wounded, including children, women and elderly people, while reporting that dozens had been killed without specifying an exact death toll.
Both the governor and the doctors’ network accused the RSF of carrying out the attack.
Badi said most of those killed were women and children and described the targeting of civilians at displacement shelters as a serious escalation. He called on the international community to take steps toward accountability.
Wad Al-Mahi is hosting people displaced by fighting in Geisan locality and other parts of Blue Nile.
Earlier in October, the Blue Nile Civil Society Initiative estimated that more than 25,000 people displaced from Geisan were living in Wad Al-Mahi amid severe shortages of food, water, shelter and healthcare.
The Sudan Doctors Network described the attack as a “massacre” and a “war crime” and called on the United Nations, humanitarian agencies and international rights organizations to respond urgently.
An earlier statement from the Blue Nile Civil Society Initiative had reported more than 18 people killed and others injured in the same attack, saying a drone struck a water facility in Abu Shendi used by residents and displaced families.
Subsequent statements from the doctors’ network and the Blue Nile governor identified the targeted location as a shelter for displaced people.
The civil society initiative called for an independent and transparent investigation, urgent medical care for the injured, protection of civilians and essential infrastructure, and accountability for those responsible.
Health services in displacement areas across Blue Nile are already under severe pressure. Earlier this month, the initiative warned of shortages of medicines, emergency care and maternity services and cited field reports of deaths among pregnant women in some areas because of difficulties accessing treatment.
The war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF, which began in April 2023, has displaced large numbers of people and severely disrupted basic services across the country.
Sudan Now could not independently verify responsibility for the attack or reconcile the differing casualty figures reported by the doctors’ network and the regional governor.
This article was updated to include the Sudan Doctors Network casualty figures and the Blue Nile governor’s statement confirming that a displacement shelter was targeted.
