More than 300 children have been killed or injured in the last six months in the war in Sudan, mostly from drone strikes, the UN children’s agency said on Monday (July 6, 2026).

The Sudanese military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have been fighting since April 2023.

The war is now concentrated in the Kordofan, Darfur and Blue Nile states, with drone warfare causing 60% of casualties, according to UNICEF.

The UN, U.S., U.K. and others have expressed alarm about potential atrocities as the RSF and the military fight for control of the strategic city of el-Obeid in North Kordofan.

In Geneva on Monday (July 6), the UN-backed Human Rights Council approved a measure, brought by five European countries, condemning the escalating violence by the RSF and its allies in and around el-Obeid.

The measure, approved without a vote, also encourages greater support for countries hosting refugees from Sudan and condemns “all forms of external interference” in the war, among other things.

The conflict has killed at least 59,000 people, displaced some 13 million and pushed many parts of Sudan into famine. More than 30 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance.

Drone strikes and shelling have targeted civilian infrastructure including schools, markets, fuel and water stations, putting over 500,000 people at risk. Civilians in some areas have faced almost siege-like conditions for over a year.

“Children are being caught in a relentless cycle of violence, displacement and deprivation,” said Sheldon Yett, UNICEF representative for Sudan.

The UN called on parties “to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, allow and facilitate safe, rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access, and take all possible measures to protect children from harm.”

At least 880 civilians were killed in drone strikes in Sudan between January and April this year, the UN rights office said on Monday (May 11, 2026), warning such strikes were pushing the conflict towards a “new, even deadlier phase”.

Drone attacks by both Sudan’s Army and Paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which have been at war since April 2023, have intensified across the country in recent months.

“Armed drones have now become by far and away the leading cause of civilian deaths,” UN rights chief Volker Turk said in the statement.

A growing use of drones allows fighting to continue “unabated” in the rainy season, which in the past has seen a lull, he said.

“An intensification of hostilities in the coming weeks risks hostilities expanding even further to central and eastern states, with lethal consequences for civilians across enormous areas,” he said.

More than three years of civil war in Sudan have already killed tens of thousands, displaced over 11 million and thrust several areas into famine.

But now, Mr. Turk warned that “unless action is taken without delay, this conflict is on the cusp of entering yet another new, even deadlier phase”.

Most of the civilian deaths attributed to drone strikes in the first three months of the year were recorded in the Kordofan region and Darfur.

Those strikes have continued, with most recently on May 8, 2026, drones striking Al Quoz in South Kordofan and near El-Obeid in North Kordofan, reportedly killing 26 civilians and injuring others, the rights office said.

It said belligerents had used drones to repeatedly strike civilian objects and infrastructure, “diminishing access to sufficient food, clean water and health care”.

Markets have been repeatedly targeted, with at least 28 such attacks resulting in civilian casualties in the first four months of the year. Health facilities have been hit at least 12 times, it added.

Now, the rights office said, drone strikes by the RSF and the Sudanese Army were increasingly spreading beyond Kordofan and Darfur, to Blue Nile, White Nile and Khartoum.

Mr. Turk warned that heightened violence would disrupt provision of critical humanitarian assistance.

“Much of the country, including Kordofan, is now facing an increased risk of famine and acute food insecurity,” he said, adding that the situation was being exacerbated by fertiliser shortages linked to the West Asia war.