A drone strike on Friday in Sudan's southeastern Blue Nile state killed at least 30 displaced people — 26 women and four children — the governor of Wad al-Mahi province told Al Jazeera, blaming the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Rights group Emergency Lawyers, which tracks the war in Sudan, put the death toll at 41 in the Abu Shandi area, the Associated Press reported. The United Nations condemned the attack, which struck near a displacement camp close to the Ethiopian border.
What happened in the Abu Shandi area?
The governor told Al Jazeera on Friday that a drone belonging to the RSF targeted the center of Wad al-Mahi province, killing 26 women and four children and wounding dozens of others. The strike landed just outside a displacement camp, near an informal gold-mining site where women earn a daily wage sifting nuggets from earth extracted by men, Al Jazeera's Sudan correspondent reported. The incident took place in the Abu Shandi area of Blue Nile state, in Sudan's southeast near the Ethiopian border.
Why are the casualty figures reported differently?
The two accounts come from different sources and could not be independently reconciled by the time of publication: the provincial governor, speaking to Al Jazeera, reported 30 killed; Emergency Lawyers, speaking to the AP, reported 41 killed and blamed the RSF for the strike. Both accounts agree that dozens were wounded and that the victims were displaced civilians. No independent investigation of the toll had been reported.
Who does the reporting blame for the strike?
Both the governor and Emergency Lawyers attributed the attack to the RSF, the paramilitary force that has been fighting the Sudanese army since April 2023. The governor told AFP the drone was launched from "inside Ethiopia" — a claim no second source had confirmed by publication time. Sudan has repeatedly accused Ethiopia of harboring RSF fighters and bases, and Ethiopia has denied the allegations. Local sources told AFP that the porous border between the two countries is a key supply line for the paramilitary and its allies.
The Blue Nile border region has become the latest frontline in Sudan's war, with the RSF launching an offensive toward Damazin. Nearly 100,000 people have been displaced in Blue Nile state this year alone, according to United Nations figures cited by Al Jazeera. Aid workers estimate the civil war has killed more than 200,000 people since April 2023, creating one of the world's largest hunger and displacement crises.
Casualty figures differ between the governor's account (30, via Al Jazeera) and the rights group's account (41, via the AP) and were not independently verified. The launch-from-Ethiopia claim is single-sourced to the governor via AFP. The RSF's side of the attribution had not been reported by the tiered outlets at publication time. This article carries no financial content.
