A drone strike on Friday, March 12, 2026, ignited fuel reserves at the Adikong market in West Darfur, near the Chad border, killing at least 11 people and injuring more than 20, according to Médecins Sans Frontières. The organization confirmed treating the injured at its medical facilities in the area. The attack represents the second deadly drone strike in Adikong in less than one month.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk stated that over 200 civilians have been killed by drones across Sudan since March 4, 2026, highlighting a sharp escalation in aerial warfare targeting civilian areas. The Adikong strike adds to a mounting toll from drone attacks hitting markets, hospitals, and internally displaced person shelters across Kordofan and White Nile state in recent weeks.
Pattern of strikes on civilian infrastructure
The Adikong market strike follows documented attacks on similar targets across Sudan's conflict zones. Drone warfare has become a defining feature of the three-year civil war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), with both sides deploying unmanned systems against areas with high civilian concentrations.
Humanitarian organizations operating in western Sudan report increasing difficulty maintaining operations as drone strikes create zones of insecurity that force aid workers to withdraw. MSF and other medical organizations have repeatedly called for protection of civilian infrastructure under international humanitarian law, warnings that have gone unheeded as the death toll climbs. The Adikong area, positioned near the Chad border, hosts displaced populations fleeing violence from other regions, making markets critical lifelines for communities with limited access to supplies.
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Humanitarian crisis deepens
The strike occurred in a region hosting populations displaced by Sudan's civil war, which has now displaced nearly 11 million people according to UN estimates. Markets like Adikong function as essential nodes for communities cut off from formal supply chains, providing access to food, fuel, and basic necessities that humanitarian organizations cannot reach.
The concentration of drone strikes in early March, killing over 200 civilians in just over a week according to UN documentation, marks one of the deadliest periods of aerial attacks on non-combatants since the conflict began in April 2023. With accountability mechanisms absent and international attention focused on other crises, the pattern of strikes on civilian gatherings and displaced populations continues with impunity across multiple Sudanese states.
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