Suspected RSF Drone Attack Kills 11 at Displacement Camp in Sudan

World

A suspected drone attack by Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has killed at least 11 people and injured 23 others at a displacement camp in River Nile state, authorities confirmed late Friday.

The local governor stated that the strike also knocked out the nearby Atbara power station — the fourth such incident since the civil conflict between the RSF and Sudanese army erupted two years ago. Witnesses reported that at least nine children were among the injured.

“My son, my cousin, my daughter’s husband and two children, my cousin’s children are dead. The boy is 10 years old and the girl is about two years old,” a grieving witness, Haleema, told Al Jazeera.

The camp, located roughly 3km (2 miles) from the Atbara power station outside the town of al-Damer, housed about 180 families who had fled the intense fighting in Khartoum. Residents lived in abandoned buildings and makeshift tents, relying on minimal humanitarian aid.

Survivors recounted the horror of multiple drone strikes. “The first drone attack came and landed right behind us,” said Mawaheb Mohamed, a survivor. “Fifteen minutes later, another one came — four in total. He decided to leave because the scene was very difficult; there were corpses, people had been dismembered, and people in the hospital.”

Despite growing accusations, the RSF, led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti), has denied carrying out drone attacks.

After the assault, authorities worked to extinguish fires among the remains of tents and personal belongings, while survivors boarded buses to an unknown destination for safety.

The attack comes amid a broader collapse of Sudan’s power grid, with repeated drone and missile strikes plunging millions into prolonged blackouts, deepening the humanitarian crisis in a nation already devastated by war.