October 16 – 20, 2026 · Blue Nile, West Kordofan, South Darfur, Khartoum Theater
October 16 – 20, 2026
In five days in mid-October 2026, drone strikes by both sides killed more than 160 people. On October 16 an RSF drone hit a gathering of displaced people in Blue Nile, near the Ethiopian border, killing 41, according to the Emergency Lawyers monitoring group. On the evening of October 18 a strike on a transport hub beside a market in RSF-held al-Dabba, West Kordofan, killed about 80; the RSF, its parallel 'Tasis' administration and Emergency Lawyers blamed the army, while an army-aligned spokesman said the strikes had killed about 80 mobilised RSF personnel. Early on October 19 a drone attack on Nyala, the RSF's stronghold in South Darfur, killed 17 people, including seven RSF officers, and drone attacks in Khartoum killed three children. The same weekend, according to a military source, air defences intercepted RSF drones aimed at the Atbara and Setit dams in the east. The UN condemned the attacks, and the United States asked the Security Council to push for a humanitarian truce and expand the arms embargo, which China and Russia opposed.
Commanders