Besieged Sudanese city faces relentless drone strikes and risk of mass atrocities, U.N. warns

Women and children queue to receive free food being distributed in al-Mohayra camp for displaced people, near the city of el-Obeid in the southern Kordofan region, on June 29, 2026. AFP via Getty Images/AFP hide caption

Whenever residents of the besieged city of el-Obeid look up at the sky, it is filled with drones — sometimes as many as 40 at a time.

The hum of the unmanned aircraft, which have been conducting deadly strikes on the city for months, has become the soundtrack to their days.

"You might get hit and killed by a drone while you're asleep at home, or while on the way to school. You could also get hit by a drone in the market," says one 25-year-old resident.

The local aid worker doesn't want to be named because of the risk to her safety, but she says they even hit funerals.

Her uncle was killed in a drone strike while going to bury his neighbor — who'd been killed in a drone strike.

Sudan has been mired in a brutal civil between government forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for more than three years. The war has caused the world's largest humanitarian crisis and displaced millions of people.

El-Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan state, sits along a strategic corridor in central Sudan, south of the capital, Khartoum, and on the route to the country's western Darfur region. Its location has made it a critical battleground in the war.