Drone strike on Sudan displacement camp in River Nile state kills 11, hits power station
The RSF, which denies carrying out drone attacks and did not respond to a request for comment, has targeted power stations in army-controlled locations in central and northern Sudan for the past several months, but the strikes had not previously left major death tolls.
At least 11 people were killed after a drone strike by the Rapid Support Forces hit a displacement camp in Sudan's River Nile state, the governor said in a statement, in an attack that also took out the regional power station for the fourth time.
The RSF, which denies carrying out drone attacks and did not respond to a request for comment, has targeted power stations in army-controlled locations in central and northern Sudan for the past several months, but the strikes had not previously left major death tolls.
More To Read
- Ethiopian militias occupy fertile Sudan land as war shifts army focus
- Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed pushes for sea access, avoids war - for now
- PM Abiy calls for unity amid Egypt, Sudan tensions as Ethiopia completes grand dam construction
- At least 933 killed in 2025 attacks on Sudan hospitals and health workers, says Save the Children
- Sudan’s RSF, rebel groups form new political coalition led by Hemedti
- Funding shortages threaten relief for millions of Sudanese refugees: WFP
"This morning, we heard a large explosion and we found two families that had been burnt completely inside their tents, while they were sleeping," said teacher Mashair Hemeidan as she shed tears.
"We had left Khartoum fearful of the war, and now the war has followed us here. I don't know where I will go with my family and children, we have no shelter or place to go to," she added.
The escalation of such strikes, which have hampered the country's electrical grid and plunged millions into weeks-long blackouts, comes two years into a damaging war as the army has been pushing the paramilitary force out of central Sudan.
Ground fighting in the war is now focused on the Darfur region, where the RSF is fighting to seize the army's remaining foothold, driving hundreds of thousands from their homes. There has also been fighting in western Omdurman, part of the capital, where the RSF remains present.
The Friday morning attack by multiple missiles, which set some of the tents on fire, injured 23 other people, a medical official said. Reuters witnesses saw at least nine children among the injured.
"My nine-year-old son Ahmed was killed today, and now my nine-year-old Fadi and my seven-year-old Omnia are in the hospital," said Fadwa Adlan, a resident of the camp.
Some 179 families displaced by the fighting in the capital had been living in difficult conditions in an abandoned building and surrounding tents outside the town of al-Damer, receiving little in the way of humanitarian assistance. The camp was located about three kilometres from the Atbara power station, which was also struck.
On Friday, authorities could be seen hosing down the residents' belongings destroyed in the fire and breaking down the camp.
Residents were seen boarding buses to an unknown location.
Top Stories Today
