Drone Attack on Market in Sudan Kills 11, Civilian Toll Rises. Khartoum, Sudan — March 13, 2026 A drone strike on a bustling market in western Sudan has resulted in the deaths of 11 people and injuries to dozens more, including children, according to reports.
The incident, which occurred at the Adikong market near Sudan’s border with Chad, triggered a fire that engulfed the area on Thursday.
The international medical organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) reported treating over 20 injured individuals, seven of whom were children, at a hospital it supports across the border in Adre. This marks the second deadly drone attack in the area in less than a month, according to MSF.
The use of drones has become a pivotal weapon in the ongoing conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which erupted in April 2023.
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk expressed shock at the escalating aerial attacks on civilians. Turk noted that over 200 people have been killed by drones across the Kordofan region and White Nile state since March 4 alone. “
It is deeply troubling that despite multiple reminders, warnings, and appeals, parties to the conflict continue to use increasingly powerful drones to deploy explosive weapons in populated areas, “Turk stated.
In West Kordofan, the SAF has been attributed with at least 152 civilian deaths, including a simultaneous strike on a market and hospital in al-Muglad on March 4. Subsequent attacks on markets in Abu Zabad and Wad Banda left at least 40 more dead.
On March 10, a civilian truck was struck in al-Sunut, resulting in the deaths of at least 50, including women and children.
The Sudanese Doctors Network reported that a day before the Adikong strike, drones used by the RSF hit a secondary school and health center in the White Nile state village of Shukeiri, killing at least 17 people, including female students, teachers, and a health worker. Mukesh Kapila, a professor of global health and humanitarian affairs at the University of Manchester, highlighted the escalating rate of drone attacks in Sudan. “It is really only in the last couple of years that drones have entered the scene in Sudan, “he. “.
Their use now appears to be accelerating into a preferred weapon of war, particularly on the RSF side.”
The SAF has been documented receiving Iranian — made drones, including Mohajer-6 combat UAVs, alongside Turkish and Russian military support.
The RSF, lacking its own air force, has been equipped through supply routes reportedly running through Chad and other transit states, with the United Arab Emirates cited as a key enabler, a claim Abu Dhabi denies.
The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data project has documented over 1,000 drone attacks since April 2023.
In the first two months of 2026 alone, the Africa Center for Strategic Studies reported that Sudan accounted for more than half of all drone attacks recorded across the African continent in 2024.
The human cost of the nearly three — year conflict has led to what has been called the world’s largest humanitarian emergency, with the UN estimating that 33.
7 million people require humanitarian assistance, and over 12 million displaced from their homes. Further details are expected as the situation develops.
