NEW YORK CITY: The UN on Tuesday expressed alarm over continuing drone attacks in North Kordofan state, warning that the violence and worsening humanitarian conditions are compounding civilian suffering across Sudan.
El-Obeid, the capital of the state, has experienced a series of intense attacks by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, marked by frequent drone strikes targeting key infrastructure across the city.
Government and other public buildings, including the headquarters of the Legislative Council, a police facility, a telecommunications company and a hospital, have sustained significant damage. Last month, drone attacks targeted the city’s power supply and residential neighborhoods, resulting in civilian casualties, including children.
El-Obeid, a strategically vital hub linking Khartoum with Darfur region, remains under siege as the Rapid Support Forces, which has been engaged in a civil war with the Sudanese Armed Forces since April 2023, seeks to consolidate its control over this critical corridor. Since beginning of this month there have been near-daily drone assaults on the city and surrounding areas, including parts of North Kordofan State.
“We continue to be very concerned by the deteriorating humanitarian situation, notably in North Darfur state, and by reports of continuing drone attacks in North Kordofan state,” UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York.
Drone attacks targeted El-Obeid for at least three consecutive days beginning on Feb. 20. One strike hit the University of Kordofan’s campus in the city on Monday, causing significant structural damage.
In North Darfur, escalating violence in the area around the border town of Tine has forced civilians to flee into neighboring Chad, Dujarric said, and is constraining humanitarian access.
Humanitarian movements through the Adre border crossing nevertheless are continuing and UN aid officials are maintaining close contact with the governments of Chad and Sudan to ensure the safe and efficient passage of supplies and personnel, as the Adre crossing remains indispensable for humanitarian operations in Darfur, the UN said.
Elsewhere in North Darfur, the area around the town of Tawila has become one of the region’s largest and fastest-growing displacement hubs, Dujarric said. It is hosting more than 715,000 people displaced by attacks last year on El-Fasher and nearby camps. Prior to this mass influx, Tawila’s population was estimated at about 40,000. Now more than half a million displaced people are sheltering at four major sites just outside the town.
The UN’s Children’s Fund has found that more than half of the people in North Darfur are not receiving the minimum daily water requirement for survival, which is set by the World Health Organization at 7.5 liters per person per day. More than 40 percent of latrines are non-functional, more than 80 percent of families lack soap, and only 8 percent of women and girls reported having access to sufficient menstrual hygiene supplies.
Humanitarian agencies are calling for rapid funding, as well as safe and unhindered access for the delivery of aid and the scaling up water and sanitation services in Tawila to prevent further deterioration of the public health conditions there.
The UN’s 2026 Humanitarian Response Plan for Sudan is seeking $2.9 billion in funding to assist more than 20 million people nationwide.
