Drone strike by Sudan paramilitary kills 41 near Ethiopian border, rights group says

A drone strike carried out by Sudan's paramilitary forces has claimed the lives of 41 people in the Blue Nile region near the border with Ethiopia, according to a report from a local human rights organization.

The monitoring group Emergency Lawyers reported that the Friday attack, attributed to the Rapid Support Forces, hit a settlement sheltering displaced civilians in the Abu Shandi area.

United Nations officials expressed deep alarm following the reports. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs stated that it was appalled by the accounts emerging from the area, adding that preliminary information indicates women and children made up the majority of those killed or wounded.

The humanitarian agency noted that the targeted locality had endured persistent assaults over recent weeks. According to the agency, the ongoing violence in the vicinity has driven thousands of residents from their homes and exposed large numbers of civilians to extreme peril.

The strike is the latest deadly episode in the protracted conflict between the Sudanese armed forces and the Rapid Support Forces, which erupted into open warfare in 2023. The violent struggle for national authority has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and forced more than 14 million people into displacement, triggering one of the most severe humanitarian emergencies globally. Millions across the nation remain in critical need of healthcare and relief assistance.

Territorial control across Sudan remains deeply fractured. Regular military forces maintain authority over significant swathes of the country's central and eastern provinces, whereas the paramilitary group operates primarily out of the western Darfur territory while controlling positions across southern regions. International monitors and rights groups have repeatedly accused both warring factions of utilizing aerial drone strikes throughout the ongoing conflict.