RSF drones kill 5 civilians in Khartoum in second strike within a week
Confidence: HIGH (78/100) | May 04, 2026 | Khartoum, Al Khartum, Sudan
aljazeera.com
In one sentence: RSF drone strikes killed five civilians in Khartoum in the second attack within a week, ending months of relative calm in Sudan's army-held capital.
Why it matters: The strikes mark a dangerous return of RSF drone warfare to Khartoum just months after Sudan's government declared the city fully liberated and began restoring services for returning residents. They demonstrate that the RSF — now territorially confined to Darfur and Kordofan — is using long-range drones to strike deep into SAF-controlled territory, threatening the fragile civilian recovery underway. With nearly 700 civilians already killed by drone strikes in the first three months of 2026 alone, the escalation risks re-displacing the 1.8 million people who had begun returning to the capital.
What Happened Today
- An RSF drone strike killed five civilians in Khartoum on 3 May 2026 — the second such attack on the capital within a week — according to Emergency Lawyers, an independent Sudanese NGO documenting human rights violations, as reported by Al Jazeera and AFP.
- Four days earlier, on 29 April, a drone struck a hospital in the Jebel Awliya area approximately 40 kilometres south of central Khartoum, the first such attack in that area in months, confirmed by a security source and eyewitnesses to AFP.
- On 1 May, RSF drones also struck Jebel Aulia south of Khartoum and targeted positions in El Obeid and Rahad al-Nuba in North Kordofan, according to Sudan Tribune.
- Emergency Lawyers held the RSF fully responsible for the Khartoum strike, accusing the group of breaching international humanitarian law and stating the attack forms part of an ongoing pattern of civilian targeting, Al Jazeera reported.
- The UN reported that nearly 700 civilians were killed in drone strikes across Sudan in the first three months of 2026 alone, according to figures cited by Al Jazeera.
Contested Claims
- Al Jazeera / Wikipedia (Sudan civil war timeline): The SAF declared the Khartoum region 'completely free' of RSF presence following its recapture of the capital in 2025, and the government returned from Port Sudan on 11 January 2026. Emergency Lawyers NGO via Al Jazeera; AFP eyewitnesses: The RSF has carried out repeated drone strikes on Khartoum and the surrounding area since the SAF's recapture, including two attacks within a single week in late April–early May 2026, contradicting the 'completely free' declaration.
Unverified / Single Source
- (Unverified — single source — NGO attribution, not independently corroborated by a second named source) The RSF carried out the Khartoum civilian vehicle drone strike that killed five people; no RSF statement claiming or denying the attack was independently obtained. [Emergency Lawyers NGO via Al Jazeera]
- (Unverified — single aggregator source citing ACLED — specific figures not directly confirmed via ACLED primary publication) ACLED data shows Sudan has seen a 47% increase in drone strikes over the last year, with 80% of all child killings and injuries in the conflict now attributed to drone attacks. [GBC Ghana Online citing ACLED]
Key Figures
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Civilians killed in Khartoum RSF drone strike | 5 | Emergency Lawyers NGO via Al Jazeera / AFP |
| Civilians killed by drone strikes across Sudan, Jan–Mar 2026 | Nearly 700 | UN figures cited by Al Jazeera |
| Displaced persons who had returned to Khartoum since SAF recapture | ~1.8 million | GBC Ghana Online / multiple news sources |
| Estimated total conflict death toll (range) | 61,000 to hundreds of thousands | CFR Global Conflict Tracker |
| Internally displaced Sudanese (as of early 2026) | ~9 million | CFR Global Conflict Tracker |
| War duration as of May 2026 | Day ~750 (war began 15 April 2023) | Wikipedia / multiple sources |
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is attacking Khartoum with drones in 2026? The RSF (Rapid Support Forces), the paramilitary led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti), is carrying out drone strikes on Khartoum. The SAF recaptured the capital in March 2025, but the RSF has since used long-range drones — including Chinese-made FH-95 models — to strike deep into SAF-held territory from its bases in Darfur and Kordofan.
Is Khartoum safe for civilians returning after the war? The city saw fragile signs of recovery after the SAF declared it 'completely free' of RSF forces. About 1.8 million displaced residents had returned and domestic flights resumed. However, renewed RSF drone strikes in late April and early May 2026 have shattered that calm, killing civilians and striking a hospital south of the city.
What is happening in the Sudan war outside Khartoum in 2026? The war's frontline has shifted to the Kordofan region, where both sides conduct near-daily drone strikes on markets, hospitals, and civilian infrastructure. The RSF controls most of Darfur after seizing El Fasher in late 2025. Mediation efforts remain stalled, and the Washington Institute assesses that a formal ceasefire is the least likely outcome in 2026.
Background
Sudan's civil war began on 15 April 2023 when the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) — two factions that had jointly run the country since the 2021 coup — turned their weapons on each other in Khartoum in a dispute over military integration. The SAF, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, recaptured Khartoum in March 2025 after nearly two years of RSF occupation, but the RSF, led by General Hemedti, retains control of most of Darfur and is contesting Kordofan. The war has killed tens of thousands and displaced approximately nine million people internally, making it the world's largest displacement crisis.
Sources
- aljazeera.com — aljazeera.com (unknown date)
- sudantribune.com — sudantribune.com (unknown date)
- english.alarabiya.net — english.alarabiya.net (unknown date)
- cfr.org — cfr.org (unknown date)
- en.wikipedia.org — en.wikipedia.org (unknown date)
- acleddata.com — acleddata.com (unknown date)
- washingtoninstitute.org — washingtoninstitute.org (unknown date)
- npr.org — npr.org (unknown date)
- gbcghanaonline.com — gbcghanaonline.com (unknown date)