Drone strike kills 21 at Nyala market in Sudan as RSF hits power grid

Attack on a Nyala market

A drone strike hit a market in Nyala, the Darfur city controlled by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group, on the evening of Monday, 26 October. Hospital sources told AFP on Tuesday, 27 October, that 21 people had been killed and 40 wounded. A hospital official could not say how many of the dead were RSF fighters, although a witness said fighters are regularly seen at the market. Another witness put the attack at around 20:00. The figures were given on Tuesday, so later counts could differ.

Mid-October 2026 livestock market30

26 October 2026 market21

Mid-October 2026 livestock market

30 deaths

26 October 2026 market

21 deaths

Data from the article text

Earlier strikes in Nyala

In mid-October, a drone strike on a livestock market in Nyala killed 30 people, and the RSF blamed the army for that attack. Spiegel notes that the Nyala market strike is not the first attack of this kind within a few weeks. El Mundo reports that the army regularly bombs Nyala, where the RSF has set up an authority rivalling the internationally recognised government, which is based in Khartoum.

Strikes on Khartoum's power grid

On Tuesday, 27 October, RSF drones targeted the Al-Markhiyat substation in Khartoum, according to sources at the national power company. The strike disrupted electricity supply across much of Khartoum and Al Jazirah states. Spiegel and ORF report attacks on five power plants in Sudan on Tuesday that caused blackouts in four states, while El Mundo describes a coordinated RSF operation against six other power plants the day before the substation strike. The sources give different counts and timing for these plant attacks. The United Nations has repeatedly warned that attacks on power plants endanger access to healthcare and essential services for millions of people. El Mundo also reports that nearly three million people have returned to Khartoum state since the army recovered it last year, and many struggle with irregular electricity and water supplies and unexploded ordnance.

Three years of war

The fighting between the army of Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the RSF, the militia of his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, has lasted more than three years according to Spiegel, and El Mundo dates the war to April 2023. Tens of thousands have been killed and millions displaced in the conflict in Africa's third-largest country. Both sides face accusations of war crimes, including attacks on civilians, and the RSF in particular is accused of systematic sexual violence and massacres of non-Arab populations in Darfur. The UN says the conflict has produced the largest humanitarian crisis in the world. In September, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) warned of a complete collapse of the health system.

Drones shape the war

El Mundo reports that the conflict now mainly plays out through drone strikes, which allow both sides to operate across the country far from the front lines. The same report says these attacks increasingly cause dozens of victims each time. The Nyala market strike and the Khartoum substation strike both fit this pattern. None of the reports name who launched the 26 October strike on the Nyala market.