Statement of Condemnation and Call for an International Investigation into the Drone Attack on Civilians in Abu Shandi, Blue Nile Region

Press Statement
Ref.: SE-ST-2026-003 | Date: 10 October 2026 | Place: Nairobi, Kenya
Statement of Condemnation and Call for an International Investigation into the Drone Attack on Civilians in Abu Shandi, Blue Nile Region
The Shahid Platform for Digital Evidence and Human Rights Documentation condemns in the strongest terms the deadly attack carried out by a drone on Friday, 9 October 2026, on a gathering of civilians and a water point in the Abu Shandi area, known as "City 6", in Wad al-Mahi locality, Blue Nile Region.
Field information and preliminary reports indicate that the attack killed more than twenty civilians, while local and medical sources have raised the toll to between thirty and thirty-one dead, in addition to a number of civilians wounded to varying degrees. Most of the victims were women, children and displaced people who had fled areas of fighting, some of whom had been forced to work in artisanal mining to meet their basic needs.
Targeting a gathering of displaced people and a facility civilians use to obtain water is a horrific crime and a direct attack on the right to life, and reveals a grave disregard for the rules protecting civilians, displaced persons and objects indispensable to their survival.
Local authorities and civil and medical groups have attributed the attack to a drone belonging to the Rapid Support Forces. In placing these allegations before the public and the competent international bodies, Shahid stresses that determining the type of drone, its flight path, its point of launch, the identity of its operator, and the chain of command that ordered or authorised the attack must be done through an independent, technical international investigation based on physical and digital evidence and the testimony of survivors and witnesses.
The platform affirms that intentionally directing an attack against civilians, displaced persons or protected civilian objects is a grave violation of international humanitarian law and may amount to a war crime where its legal elements are established. The use of drones in populated areas does not relieve any party of its obligations of distinction, proportionality, verification of the nature of the target, and taking all feasible precautions to protect civilians.
Accordingly, Shahid calls for:
1. An urgent, independent international investigation into the attack, overseen by the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
2. Securing the incident site and preventing tampering with drone and munition remnants, and preserving original footage, satellite imagery, communications and flight records, and the metadata of digital evidence.
3. Access for independent investigators to the Abu Shandi area, and the ability to interview survivors, witnesses and medical staff freely, confidentially and without interference or intimidation.
4. Publication of a verified list of the names of those killed and injured, urgent treatment for the wounded, and humanitarian assistance for the displaced and the victims' families.
5. Full determination of individual and institutional responsibility, including the perpetrators, the drone operators and the commanders who issued orders for or permitted the operation, and accountability for everyone whose responsibility is established, without immunity or selectivity.
6. An immediate halt to all drone attacks on civilians, shelters, water facilities, markets and populated areas throughout Sudan.
Shahid urges witnesses and survivors to keep photos, videos and documents in their original formats, without editing or re-compressing them, and to hand them over through secure channels to trusted human rights bodies, while refraining from publishing the names, details or locations of witnesses in ways that could endanger their lives.
Killing women, children and displaced people while they search for water or a livelihood is a crime that no military pretext can justify, and the rights of victims are not subject to any statute of limitations. Silence over these crimes will only encourage their perpetrators to continue targeting civilians with impunity.
May the victims rest in peace, may the wounded recover swiftly, and we stand in full solidarity with their families and our people in Abu Shandi, Wad al-Mahi locality and the Blue Nile Region.

Shahid Platform for Digital Evidence and Human Rights Documentation
10 October 2026