Sudan: drone strike on Nyala market kills dozens, rights group says over 100 dead
A drone strike blamed on Sudan's army hit a busy market in Nyala, South Darfur, on Monday evening. MSF says its hospital received 36 bodies and 150 wounded; a rights group puts the death toll above 100.
At a glance
- A drone strike hit a crowded market in Nyala, capital of Sudan's South Darfur state, on Monday evening, October 26, 2026.
- Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said the hospital it supports in Nyala received 36 bodies and treated more than 150 wounded, many with shrapnel wounds and severe burns.
- The rights group Emergency Lawyers said more than 100 people were killed and 113 injured, many of them women and children, and blamed the Sudanese army; the RSF claims 188 dead.
- The army has not commented; the full toll has not been independently confirmed.
- The UN says drone strikes are now the deadliest threat to civilians in Sudan's war, which began in April 2023.
A drone strike on a crowded market in Nyala, the capital of Sudan's South Darfur state, killed dozens of people on Monday evening, October 26, 2026. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said the hospital it supports in the city received 36 bodies and more than 150 wounded, while the Sudanese rights group Emergency Lawyers said more than 100 people were killed and blamed the Sudanese army for the attack.
What happened
The strike hit the market in the evening, when it was busy with shoppers and traders. Emergency Lawyers, which documents abuses in the war, called the attack a massacre that turned a marketplace into a scene of mass killing and said many of the victims were women and children. It called for an independent investigation.
MSF said the Nyala Teaching Hospital, which it supports, had received 36 bodies by Tuesday, 21 of them people in civilian clothing, and had treated more than 150 injured people in its emergency department. Many had shrapnel wounds and severe burns, and children were among the wounded. MSF described "complete devastation" and said a second drone strike also hit a residential area.
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the paramilitary group that controls Nyala, gave a much higher figure. The Sudanese army had not commented.
| Source | Killed | Injured |
|---|---|---|
| MSF (bodies received at Nyala Teaching Hospital) | 36 | More than 150 treated |
| Emergency Lawyers (rights group) | More than 100 | 113 |
| Rapid Support Forces (claim) | 188 | 356 |
The tolls could not be independently verified, and the gap between the figures may reflect victims taken to other facilities or buried quickly by families.
Background
Sudan's war began in April 2023, when a power struggle between the army and the RSF turned into open fighting in Khartoum. The army retook the capital in 2025, while the RSF holds most of Darfur, including Nyala and El Fasher, which it captured in October 2025 after an 18-month siege. Tens of thousands of people have been killed — at least 59,000 according to the conflict-monitoring group ACLED, though aid agencies believe the real number is far higher — and more than 14 million people have been forced from their homes.
Drone strikes by both sides have increased sharply in recent weeks. In the past week alone, strikes hit a transport hub in West Kordofan, a market in the disputed Abyei region and areas of Khartoum. A separate drone attack on the Al-Markhiyat power station in Omdurman left much of the capital region without electricity for more than 12 hours. An earlier strike on another Nyala market on October 16 killed at least four people.
Reactions
MSF urged both sides to protect civilians and to stop attacking markets, homes and essential civilian infrastructure. Emergency Lawyers demanded an independent inquiry. The UN human rights office has said drone strikes killed at least 1,120 civilians in the first half of 2026 alone, and UN officials say drones are now the deadliest threat to civilians in the conflict.
Why it matters
Markets are a lifeline in Darfur, where food prices have soared and parts of the region are at risk of famine. About 34 million people in Sudan need humanitarian help. Attacks on markets drive traders away, push prices higher and make it even harder for families to buy food, deepening one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.
What happens next
Rights groups and UN officials are pressing for an investigation and for both sides to stop striking civilian areas. International efforts to secure a humanitarian truce have so far failed, and aid agencies warn that more civilians will die unless the use of drones against populated areas ends.
Questions people are asking
How many people were killed in the Nyala market drone strike?
The figures differ. MSF said the hospital it supports received 36 bodies and more than 150 wounded, the rights group Emergency Lawyers said more than 100 were killed and 113 injured, and the RSF claimed 188 deaths. None of the tolls has been independently verified.
Who controls Nyala in Sudan?
Nyala, the capital of South Darfur and one of Sudan's largest cities, is controlled by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which has been fighting the Sudanese army since April 2023.
Why are drone strikes increasing in Sudan?
Both the army and the RSF have expanded their use of drones as front lines have stalled, striking markets, fuel depots, power stations and transport hubs. The UN says at least 1,120 civilians were killed by drone strikes in the first half of 2026.
