Latest
World

Sudan army drones hit mourners and fuel market killing more than 200 people, sources say

A truck carrying people to a funeral and a market alleged to be supplying fuel to the RSF were targeted.

The Great Cover Staff20 October 2026 at 14:24 UTC2 min read
Sudan army drones hit mourners and fuel market killing more than 200 people, sources say

The wave of drone attacks started on Sunday evening and, according to the Sudan War Observatory, it is likely they were launched from the army-held city of Kadugli in South Kordofan state.

A truck carrying around 200 mourners which had travelled from an area north of Abyei was hit as it arrived in the town of Al-Dabab in West Kordofan, the monitoring group said.

Sources told the group that 145 people were killed and a tent where mourners at the funeral had gathered was also hit, killing five others. A further 150 people were injured in the attacks, it said.

Army drones also bombed a market in the town of Al-Mujlad in West Kordofan on the same evening, according to the Sudan War Observatory, which said the exact number of deaths and injuries were not yet known.

Sudan's army has not responded to the allegation it carried out these strikes, but said it did not attack civilians even if they believed there were RSF fighters amongst them.

The attack in Abyei, which borders West Kordofan, took place on Monday around 11:30 local time (09:30 GMT) and had killed 73 people, the region's Information Minister Yohana Akol Ngor told Radio Tamazuj, which broadcasts from the Netherlands to audiences on the Sudan-South Sudan border.

"We were surprised by bombing and thick smoke inside Amiet Common Market, which is located 10km [six miles] from Abyei town," he said.

BBC Verify has studied satellite images that show extensive burnt buildings in the north-east corner of Amiet Market, which is also known in Arabic as Al-Na'am Market. Older images from the area show it is usually full of trucks.

It has also verified footage filmed near the market that shows a large plume of smoke, at least one petrol tanker and someone talking about five missiles being fired. Another verified video shows two massive, separate fires coming from buildings near that section of the market.

Medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said it had also received people wounded in the attack at Ameth Bek Hospital in Abyei town.

"So far we received over 20 patients, including several critical cases. Patients with burns were also admitted. We are providing surgical services and wound dressing, along with other emergency care," MSF's Christian Lindauer, the charity's manager at the hospital, said in a statement.

It also cited a military source as saying air defences in the Sudanese capital had downed several other drones launched by the RSF towards the airport.

Fighting in Kordofan, a strategic area rich in gold and oil, has intensified over the last year after the army regained control of Khartoum from the RSF.

More in World

All World »