A drone strike on Friday, 9 October 2026, killed at least 30 displaced civilians at an informal gold-mining site next to the Abu Shandi displacement camp. The site is in Wad al-Mahi locality, Blue Nile state, Sudan. Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported the toll, citing local officials and eyewitnesses. AFP said the dead were 26 women and four children. The time of the strike has not been confirmed.
Emergency Lawyers, a Sudanese rights group, said 41 people were killed, including at least eight children. It said most victims were women. It blamed the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the paramilitary group fighting the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). An RSF spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment, according to the Associated Press. Neither the RSF nor the SAF has acknowledged the attack. Both tolls were reported on Saturday, 10 October. The gap between them is unresolved.
UN response and the Ethiopia allegation
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said initial reports suggest most casualties were women and children. It said the area had been "under sustained attack in recent weeks, displacing thousands of civilians." Denise Brown, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, called for accountability for "this flagrant disregard for international humanitarian law." Dozens more people were reportedly wounded. No precise count is confirmed.
The governor of Wad al-Mahi alleged the drone was launched from inside Ethiopia. Ethiopia's government denied involvement. Sudan's Foreign Ministry made a similar accusation against Addis Ababa in March. Crisis.Zone has seen no evidence of the launch location.
On Wednesday, 7 October, drone strikes attributed to the RSF hit Damazin, the Blue Nile state capital. At least four civilians were reported killed. In March, at least 11 people were reported killed at a fuel market in West Darfur. In February, another strike killed 24 displaced civilians in central Sudan.
Observers are reading: the indicators that would confirm or weaken the Ethiopia launch allegation, and what Blue Nile's displacement figures suggest for coming weeks.
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Casualty figures remain open
As of Saturday, 10 October, Emergency Lawyers says 41 were killed and AFP says 30. Reuters, citing the UN, reported at least 31. The wounded count is unknown. The RSF has not commented, and neither side has acknowledged the strike. The war between the SAF and the RSF began in April 2023. Crisis.Zone will update this report as verified information becomes available.
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