Sudan drone strikes kill children as UN aid plan 43% funded

Drone strikes killed civilians, including children, in Sudan’s Khartoum, Darfur and Kordofan regions between Oct. 16 and 19, 2026, United Nations agencies said, as the UN’s 2026 aid plan for the country stood at just over 43 per cent funded.

The funding gap matters because the UN says it has received about US$1.2 billion of the nearly US$2.9 billion it needs, with less than three months left in the year, according to a Xinhua report of the UN humanitarian office’s briefing. Sudan Tribune, citing UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric, put the amount received at US$1.25 billion.

UN humanitarians said Monday they were alarmed by reports of continued deadly drone strikes. Drones hit several locations in Khartoum on Oct. 19, including near the airport, where a civilian was reportedly killed and some flights were cancelled, according to the Xinhua report.

In West Darfur, a Saturday strike at Bir Saliba killed 11 people, including nine children, the UN said. At least four people were killed at the Almawashi market in Nyala, South Darfur, on the previous Friday, including a child, and at least four civilians died in Abu Zabad, North Kordofan, on Saturday.

A Sudanese Red Crescent volunteer was also killed at Um Darfa, in Blue Nile state. The UN said 25 Red Crescent volunteers have reportedly been killed on duty since the war began in April 2023.

A separate drone attack on Monday killed three children, aged two, four and six, in the Imtidad Nasser area east of Khartoum’s airport, the Associated Press reported, citing the rights group Emergency Lawyers. The group blamed the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and called the attack “a humanitarian tragedy.” There was no immediate comment from the RSF, the AP said.

The same group said Sudanese military drone strikes on the al-Muglad market on Saturday and on Al-Dabab on Sunday, both in West Kordofan, killed dozens of civilians, including women and children. Neither claim could be independently verified.

UNICEF said Tuesday that at least 12 children had been killed in recent attacks, some as young as two, Sudan Tribune reported. “Every party to this conflict must protect children, wherever they are,” said Angela Kearney, UNICEF’s acting representative in Sudan.

The conflict has killed at least 59,000 people, according to the conflict-monitoring group ACLED, and about 13 million people have been displaced, the AP reported, citing UN figures. The UN says 33.7 million people in Sudan need aid this year, including 17.3 million children, and 825,000 children face severe acute malnutrition. The World Food Programme said the local food basket cost rose 24 per cent in September compared with August.

For Canadians, the clearest links are aid, sanctions and travel. The Government of Canada says it provided $110.5 million in international assistance to Sudan in 2024-25, up from about $54.3 million in 2023-24, when Canada was the seventh-largest donor, according to Global Affairs Canada’s Sudan page. That page does not give a 2026 figure, and none was found in the sources read for this report.

Canada has also imposed sanctions on nine individuals and three entities under the Special Economic Measures Act, according to the same page. Canadian exports to Sudan were worth $37.2 million in 2025, mostly wheat.

The Canadian government’s travel advice for Sudan, last updated Oct. 13, 2026, tells Canadians to avoid all travel to the country and to leave if they can do so safely. It warns that drone attacks occur frequently and without warning nationwide, including in army-held areas such as Khartoum and Port Sudan.

The war sits alongside other crises in the Horn of Africa, including the dispute between Ethiopia and Eritrea over who started their conflict. No date has been announced for new UN Security Council action on Sudan in the sources reviewed.

Via the Associated Press, Xinhua and Sudan Tribune.

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