The United States has strongly condemned a drone strike reportedly carried out by Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that killed at least 30 civilians, mostly women and children, at a displacement site in Wad Al Mahi, Blue Nile State.
The statement came from the official X account of U.S. Senior Advisor for Arab and African Affairs Massad Boulos on Sunday. “The United States condemns in the strongest terms this drone strike, reportedly by the RSF,” the post said. “Civilians in Sudan continue to be the greatest victims of this conflict.”
Local officials and witnesses said the strike hit near Abu Shandi, just outside a camp hosting people displaced by fighting near the Ethiopian border. Wad Al-Mahi governor Mahjoub Al-Sheikh called the attack “cowardly” and said the drone was launched from “inside Ethiopia.”
Many victims were women refining gold by hand at an informal mining site. An eyewitness reported: “We buried 26 women and four children.”
Sudan’s mining regulator earlier said official gold export earnings reached $2.292 billion in the first nine months of 2026, with production at 105% of the annual target.
The Blue Nile attack coincided with separate drone strikes in West Kordofan that killed at least 17 more civilians, according to UN OCHA. “These were people who had already been forced from their homes by conflict, only to face further violence,” the agency stated.
UN Resident Coordinator Denise Brown said she was “appalled by reports of the attack” and added: “Condemning these senseless killings is essential, but there must also be accountability for this blatant disregard for international humanitarian law.”
The war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and RSF has killed more than 200,000 people and displaced over 14 million since April 2023. Gold revenues help sustain both sides despite international sanctions.
However, U.S. officials continue pressing both parties for a humanitarian truce and inclusive civilian-led dialogue. Boulos recently attended a Cairo event with army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan while reiterating that neither side holds legitimate governing authority.
Continued attacks on displacement sites and gold-producing areas deepen economic disruption and deter formal investment. Without a sustained pause in hostilities, civilian deaths and lost economic output are expected to keep rising.
