Drone strike kills at least 4 women in Sudan's Blue Nile state

A devastating drone strike in Damazin, Blue Nile state, killed at least four women and wounded dozens of civilians on October 7, 2026. The attack, blamed on the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, underscores a sharp escalation in drone warfare that has killed over 1,100 people in early 2026. Despite international pressure and a UN Human Rights Council resolution extending an abuse investigation, Sudanese military chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has rejected peace talks, vowing to reclaim all territory by force.

Drone strike in Damazin

• ▪A drone strike hit homes and a mosque in the Hijra neighborhood of Damazin, the capital of Sudan's Blue Nile province, on October 7, 2026.
• ▪The October 7, 2026 drone strike in Damazin killed at least four women and wounded dozens of other civilians.
• ▪The rights group Emergency Lawyers blamed the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces for the October 7, 2026 drone strike in Damazin.

UN Human Rights Council resolution

• ▪The UN Human Rights Council called for an immediate and complete ceasefire by all parties in Sudan without preconditions on October 5, 2026.
• ▪The UN Human Rights Council condemned indiscriminate drone strikes and aerial bombardments against civilians and critical infrastructure in Sudan on October 5, 2026.

UN fact-finding mission extension

• ▪The UN Human Rights Council voted 28 to 10, with nine abstentions, on October 5, 2026, to extend the mandate of its independent international fact-finding mission for Sudan for another year.
• ▪Sudan's government opposed the UN Human Rights Council resolution extending the fact-finding mission and called on all member states to vote against it.

Stance on peace negotiations

• ▪Sudanese military chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan rejected negotiations on October 6, 2026, vowing to continue the military option until the Rapid Support Forces are removed from every inch of Sudan.
• ▪Donald Trump's senior adviser Massad Boulos met with Sudanese military chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan in Egypt to push for a diplomatic end to the war.

Displacement of civilians

• ▪More than 5,500 people were displaced from villages in Sudan's Blue Nile state over three days leading up to October 6, 2026, according to the International Organization for Migration.
• ▪The conflict in Sudan has displaced more than 12.4 million people, creating what aid groups call the world's largest humanitarian crisis.

Attacks on humanitarian convoys

• ▪An airstrike hit two clearly marked World Food Programme trucks in Dilling, South Kordofan province, killing a driver, according to UN coordinator Denise Brown.
• ▪United Nations records show that 17 food trucks have been destroyed and eight drivers killed in humanitarian convoy attacks in Sudan over the past two years.

Debatable claims

• ▪The Sudanese military and the RSF bear equal responsibility for civilian drone deaths
• ▪A military victory over the RSF is the only viable path to peace in Sudan