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.”

The Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing during their attack on El-Fasher city between 2024 and 2025, Amnesty International alleged on Wednesday (July 1, 2026).

Sudan has been mired since April 2023 in a brutal war between the army and the RSF, which has killed tens of thousands and forced millions to flee, according to the United Nations.

Both sides have been accused of atrocities, with a UN independent fact-finding mission in February concluding that the 2025 assault on El-Fasher bore the “hallmarks of genocide”.

Amnesty’s wide-ranging report found that the RSF “committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing during its campaign to seize El Fasher”.

The NGO interviewed 247 victims or witnesses between early 2024 and October 2025 in North Darfur.

It said the RSF systematically attacked settlements around El-Fasher which housed the Zaghawa people, an ethnic group in western Darfur.

The report alleged widespread and deliberate violence against children including killing, abductions, forced recruitment, and rape.

“It is a stain on the conscience of humanity,” said Amnesty chief Agnes Callamard in a statement.

Speaking in Nairobi, she was blunt on the actions of the RSF: “They exterminated, they persecuted on the basis of ethnicity and gender. They ethnically cleansed.”

“The RSF will repeat those crimes again and again until they are stopped,” she warned.

‘Ethnic cleansing’

The report said that RSF fighters burned homes long after residents had fled, “suggesting an intent to render the areas uninhabitable”, consistent with “ethnic cleansing”.

During the final RSF offensive on El-Fasher in October 2025, Amnesty said “hundreds were executed, and many others were tortured or detained” as they attempted to flee.

The report also noted violations happened “repeatedly and on a large scale”, and suggested “those in positions of authority knew, or should have known, what was occurring, and failed to stop it or hold anyone accountable”.

Amnesty International — which stressed that its investigation into the incidents was ongoing — also said such acts “may be relevant to the crime of genocide”.

The international NGO urged an immediate ceasefire and deployment of an international force to protect civilians.

The report comes as the UN Human Rights Council held a debate over El-Obeid city in North Kordofan, where there are fears of an imminent RSF assault after weeks of intense attacks.

The Sudanese government accused Ethiopia of being behind recent drone attacks on sites, including Khartoum airport, and recalled its ambassador on Tuesday (May 5, 2026).

A Military Spokesperson in Sudan said the government has evidence that four drone strikes that have happened since March 1 came from Ethiopia’s Bahir Dar airport. It also accused the United Arab Emirates of supplying the drones.

The UN Security Council voted on Thursday (April 30, 2026) to reduce the ceiling for the peacekeeping force in conflict-torn South Sudan from 17,000 to 12,000 troops with a mandate to prevent a return to civil war in the world’s newest nation.

The vote on the U.S.-drafted resolution was 13-0 with Russia and China abstaining. It extends the mandate of the force until April 30, 2027.

Nearly 700 civilians have been reported killed in drone strikes in Sudan since January, the United Nations said Tuesday (April 14, 2026), detailing the devastation and humanitarian catastrophe wrought by the brutal civil war.

Now entering a fourth year, the war between Sudan’s army and the Paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has killed tens of thousands, displaced over 11 million, and thrust several areas into famine.

Sudan’s top General rejected a ceasefire proposal provided by U.S. led mediators as “the worst yet,” in a blow to efforts to stop a devastating war that has gripped the African country for over 30 months. It created the world’s largest humanitarian crisis with over 14 million people forced to flee their homes, fueled disease outbreaks and pushed parts of the country into famine.

In video comments released by the military late Sunday (November 23, 2025), General Abdel-Fattah Burhan said the proposal was unacceptable, accusing the mediators of being “biased” in their efforts to end the war.

Sudan plunged into chaos in April 2023 when a power struggle between the military and the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) exploded into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere in the country.

Known as the Quad, the mediators have been trying for over two years to bring an end to the fighting and reestablish a path to democratic transition which was hampered by a military coup in 2021. They are comprised of the U.S., Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates

In November, President Donald Trump said that he plans to put greater attention on helping find an end to Sudan’s war after being urged to take action by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during his visit to the White House.

Massad Boulos, a U.S. adviser for African affairs, told the AP earlier that the latest proposal calls for a three-month humanitarian truce followed by a nine-month political process. The RSF said it has agreed to the truce, following global outrage over the paramilitaries’ atrocities in the Darfur city of El Fasher.

Gen. Burhan, however, said the proposal “is considered the worst document yet”, since it “eliminates the Armed Forces, dissolves security agencies and keeps the militia where they are”, referring to the RSF.

“If the mediation continues in this direction, we will consider it to be biased mediation,” he said.

He lashed out at the U.S. adviser and accused him of attempting to “impose some conditions on us”. He added, “We fear that Massad Boulos will be an obstacle to the peace that all the people of Sudan seek.”

In his comments, Gen. Burhan also took aim at the UAE. He said that since the Quad includes the Gulf country as a member, the mediation group was “not innocent of responsibility, especially since the entire world has witnessed the UAE’s support for the rebels against the Sudanese State.”

The UAE is widely accused by rights groups of arming the paramilitaries. The AP reported earlier this month that U.S. intelligence assessments for many months have found that the Emirates, a close U.S. ally, has been sending weapons to the RSF, according to a U.S. official familiar with the classified reports who spoke on condition of anonymity to share details.

The UAE denies backing the paramilitaries.

Gen. Burhan denied that the military is controlled by Islamists or that it used chemical weapons in its fighting against the RSF — an accusation leveled by the Trump administration in May.

Gen. Burhan said the military will only agree to a truce when the RSF completely withdraws from civilian areas to allow the return of displaced people to their homes, before embarking on talks for a political settlement to the conflict.

“We’re not warmongers, and we don’t reject peace,” he said, “but no one can threaten us or dictate terms to us.”

An Indian national has been captured by the anti-government Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia in Sudan and India is in touch with authorities and international organisations in that country to secure his release.

Adarsh Behera, a 36-year-old resident of Odisha, was taken away by RSF fighters when the militia captured the city of El Fasher last month.

“One Indian national is in the custody of the RSF. As you know, there is fighting going on in the El-Fasher region,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told a weekly media briefing.

“We are in contact with the Sudan government and international organisations so that the Indian national can be safely freed and we can ensure his security,” he said.

Earlier this week, Sudanese ambassador Mohammed Abdalla Ali Eltom said that authorities in his country were in touch with Indian officials on the abduction of the Indian national by the RSF.

“We hope that he is not harmed by the militia. The situation is unpredictable, you never know what they will do,” Mr. Eltom had told reporters.

The Indian embassy based in Port Sudan is closely following the situation and Sudan’s embassy in New Delhi has been in touch with the external affairs ministry and the foreign ministry in Port Sudan to secure the release of the Indian national, officials said.

“A paramilitary group fighting against Sudan’s military shelled a besieged city in the western region of Darfur, killing at least 24 people,” a medical group said on Thursday (August 28, 2025).

“The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) shelled the densely populated areas of the central market and Awlad al-Reef neighbourhood in el-Fasher, the provincial capital of North Darfur province,” according to the Sudan Doctors Network, which tracks the country’s civil war. “The attack wounded 55 people, including five women,” it said.

Sudan faces world’s worst humanitarian crisis, says U.N.

The city has been at the epicentre of fighting for more than a year between the Sudanese military and the RSF. It is the military’s last stronghold in the Darfur region. The RSF didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Sudan plunged into a civil war in April 2023 when simmering tension between the military and the RSF exploded into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere in the northeastern African country.

Wednesday’s (August 27, 2025) shelling was the latest in a series of attacks on el-Fasher and its surroundings, including two famine-hit camps for displaced people where RSF fighters ran riot in April in a major offensive that killed hundreds of people.

Editorial | ​Self-perpetuating cycle: On the violence and crisis in Sudan 

“In August, at least 89 civilians were killed in RFS attacks in and around the city in a span of 10 days, including 16 who were summarily executed,” according to the U.N. high commissioner for human rights.

The RSF besieged and turned it into “an epicentre of child suffering, with malnutrition, disease, and violence claiming young lives daily,” according to the United Nations children agency.

“The siege left 2,60,000 civilians, including 1,30,000 children, trapped inside the city and living in “desperate conditions” after being cut off from aid for more than 16 months,” UNICEF said in a statement on Wednesday (August 27, 2025). “An estimated 6,000 children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition and are at risk of death,” it said.

The conflict has killed more than 40,000 people, forced more than 14 million to flee their homes and left some families eating grass in a desperate attempt to survive as famine swept parts of the country.

“It has been marked by gross atrocities including ethnically motivated killings and rape,” according to the United Nations and rights groups. The International Criminal Court said it was investigating alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.