António Guterres has condemned the escalating use of drones by both sides in Sudan's war, saying they have killed hundreds of civilians across the country and in Abyei.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres "strongly condemns the escalating drone attacks in Sudan by the parties to the conflict and the catastrophic toll these attacks are inflicting on civilians", his spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said in a statement on Saturday 31 October, AFP reported.
The statement said drones had killed hundreds of civilians, including women and children, across Sudan and in the disputed Abyei area, and that these attacks constitute violations of international humanitarian law, according to Asharq Al-Awsat and UN News. "The Secretary-General is appalled by all the attacks directed against civilians and critical infrastructure, including health facilities," it added.
Guterres called on the parties "to spare the civilian population and critical infrastructure and agree without delay to a cessation of hostilities as a first step toward ending this devastating conflict". He renewed his appeal to both sides to engage in good faith with mediation efforts, and said the UN stood ready to support any effort towards a sustainable political resolution reflecting the aspirations of the Sudanese people, Xinhua reported.
A week of strikes on both sides of the front
The statement did not single out either party. AFP said it followed the 26 October strike on Tanqonj market in Nyala, the South Darfur city that is the seat of the RSF-led Tasis administration, which AFP said was carried out by the army and killed at least 102 people. The Tasis health ministry has put the toll at 188, while Médecins Sans Frontières said a hospital it supports received 36 bodies, Radio Dabanga reported.
In army-held states, the government in Port Sudan says drone strikes have damaged more than 13 electricity distribution stations, and on 31 October it accused Ethiopia of allowing drones to be launched from its territory, an accusation Addis Ababa has previously rejected, Sudan Tribune reported.
Abyei has also been hit. Guterres condemned drone attacks in Abyei earlier in October, and Chinese peacekeepers have since deployed anti-drone detection and jamming equipment there, Radio Dabanga reported on 28 October, following a 19 October strike on Amiet market.
The United Nations has said drone strikes are now the leading cause of civilian deaths in Sudan's war, Al Jazeera noted. The conflict, now in its fourth year, has displaced about 13 million people.
Photo: António Guterres, 2025. The White House, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.