Drone attacks, artillery shelling, armed looting and disease outbreaks are converging into a widening emergency across Darfur and Kordofan, according to new local reports, as civilians face escalating violence and collapsing health services.
The latest reports describe a string of deadly incidents in West Kordofan, East Darfur, North Darfur, South Darfur and parts of Jebel Marra, with markets, residential areas, roads and medical facilities all affected.
In West Kordofan, more than 22 civilians were reportedly killed on Tuesday after an airstrike hit Al-Radmiyah market in Ghubeish locality. The attack was attributed in the local report to aircraft belonging to General al-Burhan’s SAF. Following the strike, RSF forces reportedly arrested more than 25 young men, accusing them of sending coordinates and collaborating with opposing forces. Wi-Fi networks were also shut down and the main market was closed.
The same report said drones struck El Daein, the capital of East Darfur, on Tuesday and again on Wednesday, hitting a government building in the Hai al-Arab neighborhood. No civilian casualties were reported there, but the building was said to have been completely destroyed.
In North Darfur, field sources reported that SAF aircraft targeted neighborhoods in the city of Mellit on Tuesday evening, killing five people and wounding eight others. The injured were taken to hospital for treatment.
In West Darfur, insecurity is also worsening in El Geneina and For Baranga, both under RSF control since June 2023. The report described repeated looting, armed attacks and a lack of intervention by authorities.
Sources cited in the report said attacks in El Geneina have increasingly targeted business owners, shopkeepers and wealthier residents, with allegations that non-Arab communities are being singled out. Another civilian was reportedly killed in For Baranga, while others were wounded in separate incidents of gunfire and looting.
The security breakdown has also hit trade routes. In West Kordofan, armed men reportedly seized three commercial vehicles travelling from Souq al-Naam toward Umm Jak and demanded a ransom of 30 million Sudanese pounds. The drivers were allegedly beaten, whipped and robbed before being rescued by a local community mobilization force.
In South Darfur, three civilians, including a four-year-old girl, were killed when armed men attacked a commercial pickup on the road between Gereida and Buram on Saturday evening.
Health emergency grows
Alongside the violence, health conditions are deteriorating sharply.
In Foga, north of Al-Nuhud in West Kordofan, a cholera outbreak has reportedly killed more than 64 people and infected dozens more. The first case was recorded at the Al-Raqiq mining site near Al-Nuhud, according to sources cited by the report. Health facilities in the area are said to be overwhelmed, with severe shortages of intravenous fluids, essential medicines and isolation centers.
Emergency groups in Dar Hamar appealed for urgent intervention, warning that medical centers are crowded with patients and lack basic life-saving supplies.
In Jebel Marra, local health sources also warned of a serious mpox outbreak affecting areas including Jawa, Dira, Barta, Golo, Yara, Soni, Abunqa, Sortonqa and nearby villages. The report said hundreds of children and elderly people have been infected, while vaccines and medicines remain insufficient.
Residents appealed to humanitarian organizations and medical teams to intervene, warning that local awareness campaigns alone are not enough to stop the disease from spreading further.
The latest reports point to a deepening multi-front crisis: civilians are being hit by airstrikes, shelling, armed looting and ransom attacks, while cholera and mpox spread through areas where health systems have largely collapsed.
