Sudan: MSF treats 170 injured in repeated drone strikes on civilian areas
In Sudan, drone attacks carried out by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are hitting civilian areas and critical infrastructure – including schools, markets, healthcare facilities, and water sources.
In the first two weeks of February, Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) teams have treated 167 patients suffering from penetrating injuries to their thorax and abdomen, multiple limb fractures, head injuries and drone shrapnel.
MSF warns that this pattern of attacks is placing civilians and humanitarian workers at grave risk and calls for their immediate protection.
Civilians attacked
On 15 February, an MSF team in Adré, eastern Chad, received 18 civilians – including four women and three children – who were injured in SAF drone strikes on a fuel market just across the Sudanese border in Adikong, West Darfur state.
On 6 February, 29 injured people were treated at an MSF-supported hospital in Tine, also in eastern Chad, following two RSF drone attacks in western Sudan. The attacks killed at least 10 people, four of whom died in the hospital.
Since that date, patients have been arriving frequently due to strikes.
“Among the patients we received, a nine-year-old boy arrived with a large shrapnel wound to his eye, extensive facial fractures, and two amputated fingers,” says Virginia Moneti, MSF Project Medical Coordinator in Tine.
“He was in severe pain and exposed to dust after a long journey to reach the facility. Even with optimal care, he is likely to face long-term disability. He was transferred to Ndjamena for further treatment.”
Our teams in Zalingei, Central Darfur, treated a further 29 patients this month following several attacks, including at least eight civilians.
Healthcare at risk
Following drone strikes on 3 November in North Darfur, MSF was forced to withdraw from Kornoi and Tina, halting vital medical and humanitarian services. These attacks have made it impossible for MSF to maintain a safe presence, leaving people without essential care.
“The war in Sudan is being fought with drones beyond the front lines. Our teams are regularly treating large numbers of drone-wounded people, including women and children,” says Esperanza Santos, MSF head of emergencies.
“These strikes are used to disrupt supply lines, damage civilian infrastructure, and risk creating siege-like conditions in contested areas.”
In North Kordofan, where MSF recently launched an emergency response in El Obeid, drone strikes reportedly hit a humanitarian convoy, a vehicle carrying displaced people, and a bus station on 6-7 February.
Drone attacks reportedly also hit various health facilities in Kadugli and Dilling, South Kordofan state, in the first two weeks of February.
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“Recent incidents reveal a disturbing pattern in the conduct of the war in Sudan,” adds Esperanza Santos.
“Drone strikes are not limited to military targets, sometimes with multiple follow-up strikes on the same location, and are causing devastating harm: civilians, including children, are being killed or severely injured in blatant disregard of international humanitarian law.”
“Armed actors must take immediate measures to protect civilians and humanitarian workers. Civilians must always be spared.”
MSF is deeply alarmed by this situation. When civilian areas and humanitarian infrastructure are not respected, our teams cannot operate safely, leaving communities without essential care.
This is the exact opposite of what the people of Sudan urgently need. The humanitarian needs are immense and an immediate scale-up of assistance is critical.
MSF and the crisis in Sudan
On Saturday 15 April 2023, a brutal civil war broke out across Sudan with a wave of gunfire, shelling and airstrikes.
The violence between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has trapped millions of people in the middle of an unexpected conflict. Hundreds of thousands have been forced to flee their homes while access to essential services such as healthcare has become increasingly difficult.
Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) teams already working in Sudan have been responding to the crisis since its first moments.