KHARTOUM – Three children were killed in a drone strike in Khartoum early Monday as Sudanese army air defences engaged other drones over the capital, a day after similar attacks were reported in eastern Sudan, highlighting the expanding role of unmanned aircraft in the country’s war.

Local sources said a one-way attack drone struck an Islamic complex in the Wad Al-Jabal area of Imtidad Nasir in Khartoum on Oct. 19, killing two sisters aged two and four and a six-year-old boy.

The victims were identified as Doaa Faisal Hassan, 2, her sister Lujain Faisal Hassan, 4, and Gadoura Al-Tijani, 6.

The sources attributed the strike to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), but the circumstances of the attack and responsibility for it could not be independently verified. The RSF had not issued an immediate public statement on the reported deaths.

The strike came as military sources reported a broader drone attack on Khartoum during the early hours of Monday.

A military source said ground-based air defences engaged drones over the capital. Videos circulated on social media appeared to show aircraft in the night sky and air-defence fire, although their precise locations and timing could not be independently confirmed.

There was no confirmed information on how many drones were involved, their intended targets or whether additional casualties or damage were reported elsewhere in Khartoum.

Drone Attacks Spread to Eastern Sudan

The Khartoum incidents followed drone attacks reported a day earlier around Khashm El-Girba in Kassala State and locations in neighboring Gedaref State.

Local sources said army air defences shot down four one-way attack drones targeting Khashm El-Girba on Sunday. No independently confirmed casualties or material losses were reported.

The sources claimed the drones had entered from Ethiopian territory, but there was no independent confirmation of their point of launch or evidence establishing who operated them.

Sudanese military forces also reported intercepting drones targeting sites in Gedaref, part of a series of attempted aerial attacks reported in eastern Sudan and areas bordering the Blue Nile region.

Khashm El-Girba and Gedaref lie far from many of the traditional ground front lines of Sudan’s conflict, underscoring how long-range drones have increasingly extended the geographic reach of the war.

Drone Warfare Expands

The reported attacks come amid a sharp expansion in drone operations by both the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the RSF as the conflict continues across Darfur, Kordofan and Blue Nile.

The RSF has increasingly been accused by military and local sources of deploying one-way attack drones against cities, military positions and infrastructure in army-controlled areas, while the SAF has expanded its own drone campaign against RSF bases, supply routes and movements.

In recent weeks, drone attacks or attempted strikes have been reported in Khartoum, Gedaref, Khashm El-Girba, Blue Nile and several locations across Kordofan.

The spread of long-range drone attacks has raised growing concerns over civilian safety and critical infrastructure, particularly when strikes occur in densely populated urban areas.

Monday’s reported deaths in Khartoum underscore those risks, with the victims all children and the strike reported inside a civilian area.

Sudan’s war began in April 2023 between the SAF and RSF and has since evolved from predominantly ground combat into a conflict increasingly shaped by drones, airstrikes and long-range attacks far beyond the main front lines.