Drone strike by Sudan paramilitary kills 41 near Ethiopian border, rights group says

A drone strike hit a camp for displaced people in Abu Shandi, an area of Sudan’s Blue Nile region near the Ethiopian border. Emergency Lawyers said 41 people were killed. The reported casualties make the attack especially serious because the target was a place sheltering civilians who had already fled violence.

The group accused the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, of launching the strike on Friday. The United Nations humanitarian office, Ocha, said it was appalled by horrifying reports. Initial reports indicated that most of those killed or injured were women and children, although the article does not give a final casualty breakdown.

The attack happened after the area had reportedly faced sustained attacks in recent weeks. Ocha said those attacks had displaced thousands of civilians and exposed many more to grave harm. The incident shows how repeated violence can turn temporary refuge into another danger zone.

Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces are a paramilitary force, meaning an organised armed group that operates alongside, but separately from, the country’s regular military. The article presents the RSF and the Sudanese army as rival forces locked in a power struggle since 2023. That conflict has become Sudan’s central war.

Their main difference is institutional and territorial. The army is the country’s regular armed force and controls much of central and eastern Sudan. The RSF is a separate paramilitary organisation. It is headquartered in western Sudan’s Darfur region and also controls areas in the south. Both sides have been accused of using drones.

This division matters because neither force controls all of Sudan. Fighting and shifting control can affect civilians far from the main front lines. The article’s reported strike in Blue Nile shows that the conflict also reaches the country’s southeastern border area, near Ethiopia.

The war is enormous in human terms. The article says fighting between Sudan’s army and paramilitary forces, including the RSF, has killed hundreds of thousands of people since 2023. It has also displaced more than 14 million people from their homes. These figures show that the conflict is not limited to combatants or isolated towns.

The reported displacement includes people forced to seek safety elsewhere inside Sudan or beyond their original communities. The Abu Shandi camp illustrates what that movement looks like in practice. People who had already fled their homes gathered there, yet the camp itself was reportedly hit by a drone strike that killed 41 people.

The consequences continue beyond immediate deaths and flight. The article describes one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with millions needing medical help. Repeated attacks can create new displacement while making it harder for aid workers and health services to reach people already in need.

Camps for displaced people are especially vulnerable because they gather large numbers of civilians in one place. Residents may have few safe routes, limited protection, and little control over nearby fighting. They are also dependent on outside support for shelter, food, medical care, and security. A camp can therefore become a concentrated civilian danger zone during a civil war.

The Abu Shandi case shows the risk clearly. A drone strike targeted a camp for displaced people, and Emergency Lawyers said 41 people were killed. Ocha reported that most casualties initially appeared to be women and children. The area had already been under sustained attack in recent weeks, forcing thousands of civilians to flee.

The danger compounds itself. New attacks drive more people into displacement, while attacks on camps make even refuge unsafe. They can also disrupt aid and scatter communities again. The article does not identify why this particular camp was selected, but it shows the severe risks facing civilians gathered there.

Sudan’s territorial control is divided between the two main forces. The army controls much of the country’s central and eastern regions. The RSF is headquartered in western Darfur and also controls areas in the south. This division reflects the wider power struggle that has driven the war since 2023.

Blue Nile is in southeastern Sudan, along the Ethiopian border. The article reports that an RSF-attributed drone strike hit a displaced-people camp in Abu Shandi, within the state. It also says the area had been under sustained attack in recent weeks, displacing thousands of civilians. These facts place Blue Nile within the conflict’s expanding geography.

The article does not state which side controls Abu Shandi or all of Blue Nile. It does show that violence is affecting regions beyond the army’s central and eastern strongholds and the RSF’s Darfur base. Border areas can therefore face both fighting and large-scale civilian movement.

When attacks repeatedly drive people from their homes, medical care becomes harder to deliver and easier to lose. Clinics may be damaged, staff may flee, and patients may be separated from medicines or treatment. Humanitarian agencies must also reach larger, moving populations under dangerous conditions. The result is greater need alongside weaker access to help.

The article gives a concrete example in Blue Nile. Sustained attacks in recent weeks reportedly displaced thousands of civilians. A later drone strike on a displaced-people camp killed 41 people, while Ocha said initial reports suggested most casualties were women and children. The area’s insecurity makes stable shelter and regular assistance difficult.

Sudan already faces one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with millions needing medical help. Further displacement can spread that pressure to new communities and aid locations. Unless attacks stop, civilian safety, healthcare access, and humanitarian operations are likely to deteriorate further; the article does not state a specific aid plan or timeline.

International humanitarian law, which governs armed conflict, requires parties to distinguish civilians and civilian objects from military targets. Civilians may not be deliberately attacked, terrorised, or treated as legitimate targets simply because they live in contested territory. Parties must also take precautions to limit civilian harm and allow essential humanitarian relief, subject to lawful security controls.

Displaced people do not lose their civilian protection because they fled. Camps and shelters are generally civilian places unless they are being used for military purposes, and even then the rules of distinction, proportionality, and precaution still apply. Attacks that are indiscriminate or expected to cause excessive civilian harm are prohibited. These are established legal protections; the article itself does not explain them.

The Abu Shandi strike raises urgent protection concerns because the reported target was a displaced-people camp and initial reports said most casualties were women and children. The article identifies the RSF as accused, but does not establish legal responsibility. Investigations and continued protection efforts would be needed to determine what happened.