Drone strike on Nyala market in Sudan's Darfur kills over 100 civilians

A Sudanese military drone strike hit Tanqong Market in RSF-controlled Nyala, South Darfur, on October 26, 2026, causing heavy casualties. Human rights group Emergency Lawyers reported over 100 people killed and 113 injured, primarily women and children, while local health officials cited 102 civilian deaths. Sudanese military representatives claimed the strike killed over 150 RSF militia recruits. The attack underscores the rapid escalation of drone warfare in Sudan's ongoing civil war.

Casualties from the Nyala drone strikes

• ▪Health minister Dr. Alaa al-Din Nugud stated that 102 civilians were killed and 113 were injured in the October 26, 2026 drone strike in Nyala.
• ▪The Sudan Doctors Network preliminarily reported that an October 26, 2026 attack in Nyala killed 21 people and injured over 40, attributing most deaths to shelling.
• ▪Emergency Lawyers reported that an October 26, 2026 drone strike on a market in Nyala killed over 100 people and wounded 113 others, mostly women and children.
• ▪Doctors Without Borders project coordinator Dale Koninckx reported that medical staff in Nyala worked around the clock treating wounded patients, including women and children.
• ▪A Doctors Without Borders hospital in Nyala received 36 bodies, including 21 in civilian clothing, and treated over 150 wounded patients following the October 26, 2026 strikes.

Attribution and conflicting accounts of Nyala strike

• ▪Emergency Lawyers attributed the October 26, 2026 market strike in Nyala to the Sudanese military and requested an independent investigation.
• ▪Eyewitnesses reported that hundreds of Rapid Support Forces fighters gathered at the Nyala market prior to an October 26, 2026 drone strike that killed dozens of fighters.
• ▪Special Operations Forces spokesperson Mohamed Didan stated that a targeted airstrike killed over 150 Rapid Support Forces recruits at Dumaya camp west of Nyala.
• ▪A Sudanese military drone strike hit Tanqong Market

UN reports on nationwide drone strikes

• ▪United Nations tallies indicated that drone strikes killed over 300 people and injured hundreds more across Sudan during the first three weeks of October 2026.
• ▪United Nations reports identify explosive-laden drone strikes conducted by both the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces as the deadliest threat to civilians in Sudan.

Drone strikes elsewhere in Sudan

• ▪An October 27, 2026 drone attack attributed to the Rapid Support Forces hit the Al-Markhiyat transformer station in Omdurman, causing a 12-hour power outage across Khartoum.
• ▪An electricity company official stated that the October 27, 2026 drone attack on the Al-Markhiyat transformer station in Omdurman was the second strike on the facility in 2026.

Broader humanitarian crisis in Sudan

• ▪The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification warned that deteriorating humanitarian conditions across greater Darfur and Kordofan states have put those areas at risk of famine.
• ▪In RSF-controlled Nyala, the share of children seeking treatment for severe acute malnutrition increased from 5% to 11% between January and August 2026.
• ▪The civil war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, active since April 2023, has created the world's largest displacement and humanitarian crisis.
• ▪The United Nations reported that about 34 million people, representing nearly two-thirds of Sudan's population, require humanitarian assistance as a result of the civil war.