Drone strike kills 28 at crowded market in Sudan

A drone strike hit a busy market in Ghabesh, West Kordofan on Tuesday, killing at least 28 people and wounding dozens, according to the Emergency Lawyers group.abcnews
The UN warned last week that drones caused over 80% of civilian deaths in Sudan’s war during the first four months of 2026, killing at least 880 people.un
Markets and health facilities across Sudan’s Kordofan region have been repeatedly targeted as fighting between the SAF and RSF intensifies.facebook

Drone Strike Kills 28 at Crowded Market in Sudan’s West Kordofan

A drone strike hit a bustling market in the town of Ghabesh in Sudan’s West Kordofan state on Tuesday, killing at least 28 people and wounding dozens more, according to local rights monitors.sfgate

The attack, reported by the Emergency Lawyers group, marks the latest in a relentless wave of drone warfare against civilian targets in Sudan’s Kordofan region, where fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has intensified in recent months.abcnews

Escalating Drone Warfare

The strike comes just over a week after the United Nations sounded the alarm on drone attacks as the leading cause of civilian death in the nearly three-year-old civil war. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said on May 10 that drones accounted for more than 80 percent of conflict-related civilian fatalities in the first four months of 2026, killing at least 880 people.un

“Armed drones have now become by far and away the leading cause of civilian deaths,” Türk said, warning that the conflict risks entering “a new, even more lethal phase” without immediate international action.reuters

Pattern of Market Attacks

Markets across Kordofan and Darfur have been repeatedly targeted throughout 2026. In February, a drone strike on Al-Safiya market in North Kordofan’s Sudari locality killed 28 people, prompting international condemnation. In March, drone attacks hit two markets in West Kordofan, killing at least 33. According to one monitoring group, drone strikes have hit 28 markets and 12 health facilities in Sudan in 2026 alone.facebook

The BBC reported in February that the focal point of combat has shifted to the south-central Kordofan region as both sides have consolidated positions elsewhere, making the corridor’s civilian population increasingly vulnerable to aerial attacks.bbc

A Conflict Without End

The war between the SAF and RSF, which began in April 2023, has become one of Africa’s deadliest conflicts for civilians. Peace initiatives, including those led by the United States, have yielded no lasting cessation of hostilities. The rights group that documented Tuesday’s strike called it a war crime.facebook