Sudan Crisis Update: Increasing Violence Targeting Civilians in Kordofan, Blue Nile, and White Nile States

While the conflict in Sudan receives little global attention, over 60 people—including 20 women and 13 children—have been killed by drone strikes and shelling across four Sudanese states in the past three weeks. Escalating violence in Kordofan and Blue Nile states, along with increased drone attacks in White Nile State, has made Sudan’s midwestern and southeastern regions particularly perilous. Reports of regional support for the RSF alliance from countries such as Ethiopia coincide with a rise in internally displaced persons (IDPs) fleeing insecurity in these southeastern areas. Kordofan remains a central battleground between the RSF/SPLM/N Alliance and SAF. Women and children escaping violence, hunger, and drone strikes find almost no life-saving assistance due to funding cuts, road closures, and attacks on aid workers.

Um Salma Mohamed, a volunteer in the Sudanese red crescent was killed on duty in shelling on Dillinj hospital on March 7^th. RSF and SPLM/N drones attacks and heavy artillery shelling intensified in Dillinj city of south Kordofan since early March. Local responders reported 25 deaths between March 4 and 10^th, and more than 75 injured in the attacks on Dillinj market, Turok and Hilla Jadida neighborhoods  and Dillinj hospital. This attacks resulted in destruction of civilians’ residents, parts of the market and parts of the emergency department of Dillinj hospital.

On March 8, 2026, Haniam Ibrahim and her child lost their lives in an SAF drone strike at Mandry market, located in the Julud area of South Kordofan. The attack targeted a civilian area controlled by SPLM/N and resulted in the deaths of eight women and six children. On March 16, RSF and SPLM/N launched an assault on Dillinj city, which led to the closure of local markets. Local volunteers reported that humanitarian services, including community kitchens, were disrupted on the day of the attacks and in the days that followed.

North Kordofan witnessed intensified drones attacks since February. On March 2^nd, RSF drones destroyed parts of the British hospital in Aolbied. On Amrch 3^rd, drones attacked the electricity station in city of ALobeid. The university of Kordofan witnessed mass destruction due to several drones attacks in the first week of March. Medical networks reported 7 people killed in Omkredom in North Kordofan, among them two women and a child on March 7^th.

Following the fall of Bara city under RSF control on March 17^th, reports of mass killing of civilians emerged from the village of Sherim Mima near Bara. At least 12 people were killed among them 6 women and another 7 were injured when the forces entered the village. Those who were killed were accused of collaboration with SAF forced upon its control of the city in the few months. These retaliation attacks against civilians became a continuous pattern in the conflict in Sudan. Both fighting parties launch killing campaigns against civilians under accusation of collaboration upon control of any area. On March 15^th, Rahad Abudakna hospital was destroyed by drones attacks by RSF.

On March 17th in West Kordofan, drone strikes caused fear and loss of life while growing insecurity and tribal conflict in Alfoula led to the market closing and people being displaced within the city. Violence against civilians, including further drone attacks, persisted in Alnihood, Almujlad, and other regions of the state.

Since February, Blue Nile State has experienced escalating conflict in Kurmuk, Silik, and Bao along the borders of South Sudan and Ethiopia. According to local responders, over 12,000 people have recently arrived in Aldamzein, the state capital. Additionally, reports indicate that more than 5,000 individuals fled from Kurmuk into Ethiopia but remain stranded at the border, lacking adequate services amid heightened political tensions between the Sudanese army and the Ethiopian government due to allegations of support for RSF attacks. Drone strikes have destroyed civilian homes and caused numerous injuries and fatalities among civilians over the past month.  

On March 11th in White Nile state, a drone attack on a school in Shekeiry village killed nine students and a medical professional. Since early March, drone strikes in the area have destroyed schools, medical centers, and electricity stations.

The international community and donors need to intensify their efforts to safeguard civilians by providing urgent, life-saving assistance and services. Many internally displaced people are either trapped within conflict zones or stranded on roads between these areas, lacking the financial resources needed to reach safety. Others choose to stay at home or return to regions with high levels of violence because there is insufficient support in the places they’ve fled to, both within Sudan and beyond its borders. The ongoing failure of the international community to address the situation has left the Sudanese people neglected, contributing to the world’s largest humanitarian crisis and resulting in increased fatalities and preventable catastrophic conditions across much of Sudan.

Recommendation:

• Broaden the arms embargo throughout Sudan, with particular emphasis on limiting drone supply chains to both parties involved in the conflict.
• Strengthen negotiations to secure unrestricted access for humanitarian aid organizations, both local and international.
• Increase flexible, trust-based funding for locally driven response initiatives, including those led by women and youth, to ensure timely support for urgent lifesaving needs.
• Allocate resources to support locally developed protection strategies for civilians, such as facilitating safe passage agreements, community-organized evacuation plans, and other mechanisms negotiated at the local level.