GENEVA — The United Nations’ top human rights official raised alarms on Monday over relentless drone attacks on civilians in Sudan, even as the army claimed victories in breaking prolonged sieges by paramilitary forces in the south.
Sudan’s armed forces announced they lifted the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) sieges of al-Dalanj in late January and Kadugli in early February. These blockades had left residents starving and without medical aid due to severed supply lines. Yet, Volker Türk, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, told the Human Rights Council in Geneva that aerial violence persists unabated.
“Drone strikes by both sides continue, resulting in dozens of civilian deaths and injuries,” Türk stated during a dedicated debate on the Sudan conflict.
His office verified more than 90 civilian fatalities and 142 injuries from drone operations by both the RSF and Sudanese army between late January and February 6. Aid workers had braced for similar catastrophes in these cities, recalling the RSF’s October 2025 capture of al-Fashir in Darfur after a grueling siege that triggered widespread atrocities.
Türk highlighted the ongoing crisis in al-Fashir, where thousands remain unaccounted for some presumed dead, others reportedly enduring “inhumane” detention conditions. The revelations underscore the fragility of recent military advances amid Sudan’s civil war, which has displaced millions and fueled famine risks since April 2023.