KHARTOUM – The United Nations has called for accountability over a deadly drone strike in Wad Al-Mahi locality in Blue Nile State, after preliminary information indicated that at least 31 civilians, mostly women and children, were killed.
U.N. Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan Denise Brown said on Oct. 10 that dozens of other civilians were injured, some seriously, and warned that the casualty toll could rise.
The attack had been reported a day earlier near Abu Shendi, where displaced people who fled recent fighting in Geissan and Kurmuk localities were sheltering.
“Condemning these senseless killings is essential, but there must also be accountability for this flagrant disregard for international humanitarian law,” Brown said.
The U.N. said the strike occurred next to a displacement site in an area controlled by the Sudanese Armed Forces that had come under attack during the previous week.
The statement did not identify who carried out the drone strike.
Earlier reports from the Blue Nile Civil Society Initiative and the Sudan Doctors Network attributed the attack to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Sudan Now could not independently verify responsibility for the strike.
The Sudan Doctors Network had earlier reported 31 civilians killed, including four children, and 19 others injured. Blue Nile Governor Ahmed Al-Omda Badi separately confirmed that a site sheltering displaced people had been hit and reported dozens of casualties.
Brown also pointed to a similar attack on a displacement shelter in El Obeid, North Kordofan, about a week earlier, where civilians, including children, were killed and injured.
The United Nations said parts of Blue Nile have faced repeated attacks in recent weeks, forcing thousands of civilians from their homes and exposing others to further death, injury and hardship.
Brown stressed that international humanitarian law is binding and protects civilians as well as humanitarian and medical personnel, saying those who disregard it must be held accountable.
