A drone strike hit a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Al-Damer, the capital of River Nile State in northern Sudan, killing at least 11 people and injuring over 22 others, according to the state governor.
Governor Mohammed Al-Badawi Abdel-Majid criticised the attack in a statement, calling it a “crime” conducted by paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) at dawn on Friday against the IDP camp in the Al-Mogran area. He said that 11 civilians, primarily women, children, and the elderly, were killed.
He encouraged the international community and human rights organizations to document the breaches and hold the perpetrators accountable.
The governor also ordered that the camp be relocated to a safer location to protect the displaced inhabitants.
Separately, the non-governmental Sudanese Doctors Network stated that “the strike was carried out by a swarm of drones that launched four missiles, causing massive explosions and thick smoke over the shelter center and the electrical substation in Atbara city.”
The Media Coordination Council of the Sudanese Electricity Company said the Atbara substation was targeted by drones on Friday for the fourth time in a short period, leading to a power outage in the River Nile and Red Sea states.
The council confirmed that civil defence teams were working to extinguish the fire caused by the strike, and that technical damage assessments and follow-up measures would take place.
The RSF has recently escalated attacks on key civilian and military sites in the Northern and River Nile states, causing significant damage to the Merowe Dam in northern Sudan and triggering power outages across multiple states.
The conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which erupted on April 15, 2023, has killed tens of thousands, displaced over 15 million people, and left Sudan facing what the UN calls one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
UN agencies warn the country is nearing famine, with its healthcare system collapsed and accurate casualty counts nearly impossible to verify.
