Tarek Chouiref
13 July 2026•Update: 13 July 2026
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned Sunday that continued drone attacks are deepening the humanitarian crisis in Sudan’s Kordofan region, where a worsening cholera outbreak and severe water shortages are compounding civilian suffering.
According to OCHA, local sources reported that a drone strike targeted a civilian vehicle near Al-Shaatut village east of Jabrat Al-Sheikh in North Kordofan last Monday, causing civilian casualties and damage. The following day, another drone reportedly struck a water truck in Hamrat Al-Sheikh, causing additional civilian casualties and further disrupting access to essential water supplies.
OCHA said cholera continues to spread across Kordofan, with humanitarian partners reporting a suspected case in El Obeid, where continued drone attacks have reduced the city’s water supply to just 20% of its needs.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has pre-positioned cholera response supplies in El Obeid and established a cholera treatment center, while OCHA said it has allocated more than $4 million through the Sudan Humanitarian Fund to support food security, nutrition, health care, water and sanitation, protection services and mine action.
In neighboring South Kordofan, UNICEF delivered health supplies to Abu Jubaiha to support emergency and routine health services for about 240,000 people, according to OCHA.
For more than a month, El Obeid has come under drone attacks by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), targeting the city’s main power station, fuel facilities and other civilian sites, killing and injuring dozens of people.
Originally home to about 500,000 residents, El Obeid has since become a major displacement hub, with unofficial estimates putting its current population at around 3 million.
Sudan has been engulfed in conflict since April 2023, when fighting erupted between the army and the RSF over plans to integrate the paramilitary force into the military. The war has triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, killing tens of thousands and displacing millions of others.
