The Numbers Behind the Sudan Drone Strike That Killed 41 Displaced People

A drone strike attributed to Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) killed 41 people at a site for displaced civilians in the Blue Nile region on the border with Ethiopia, according to the rights group Emergency Lawyers. The strike took place Friday in the Abu Shandi area, the group said.

The United Nations humanitarian office said it was appalled by the reports. The attack adds to a war that aid groups describe as the world's largest humanitarian crisis.

Key figures from the attack and the war

• 41 killed: Emergency Lawyers, which tracks the conflict, gave this toll for Friday's strike, as reported by ABC News and the BBC. ABC reported that dozens more were wounded.
• Eight children: The group said eight of the dead were children and that many were women. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said, according to the BBC, that initial reports suggested most casualties were women and children.
• At least 150,000 dead: This is the war's death toll according to the conflict monitor ACLED, as cited by ABC. Aid groups say the real figure is likely higher. The BBC described the toll only as hundreds of thousands.
• 12.4 million displaced: ABC cited this U.N. figure for people forced from their homes. The BBC reported that more than 14 million have been displaced, so counts differ between outlets.
• 33.7 million in need: ABC reported that this many people across Sudan, including 17.3 million children, urgently need aid this year.
• 825,000 children: This is the estimated number facing severe acute malnutrition, according to ABC.

What is known about the strike

Emergency Lawyers said the RSF carried out the attack. An RSF spokesperson did not respond to ABC's request for comment. The BBC reported that the strike targeted a camp for displaced people.

OCHA said the area had been under sustained attack in recent weeks, displacing thousands of civilians and exposing many more to serious harm. Denise Brown, the U.N. resident and humanitarian coordinator in Sudan, called for accountability for what she described as a flagrant disregard for international humanitarian law. She also said that as the war goes on, "the world continues to accept the suffering of the people of Sudan."

Why it matters: civilians already uprooted are being hit again

The victims were people who had already left their homes. According to OCHA, the area has been repeatedly attacked in recent weeks, so people sheltering there have been displaced and then exposed to further violence.

The scale of need described in the U.N. figures is large. Tens of millions of people in Sudan need assistance, and hundreds of thousands of children face severe acute malnutrition. Strikes on gathering places for displaced people add to the pressure on communities that, by these numbers, depend heavily on outside help.

The BBC noted that both the army and the RSF have been accused of using drone attacks, which means the risk to civilians is not tied to one side alone.

The war behind the numbers

ABC reported that the war began in April 2023, when tensions between the military and the RSF turned into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, and then spread across the country. The BBC described it as a power struggle between the army and paramilitary forces including the RSF.

According to the BBC, the army controls much of central and eastern Sudan. The RSF is headquartered in the western region of Darfur and also holds areas in the south. Blue Nile, where Friday's strike took place, lies on the border with Ethiopia.

The casualty figures from Friday come from a rights group and have not been independently confirmed in the sources reviewed. The RSF has not publicly responded to the accusation.

Around Prague, based on reporting by ABC News, BBC News