KORDOFAN REGION — Nearly 700 civilians have been killed in drone strikes across Sudan since the beginning of 2026, the United Nations said. UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said the use of drones in the Sudan conflict is increasing, with strikes occurring almost daily, particularly in the southern Kordofan region and in western areas controlled by the Rapid Support Forces.

Doctors Without Borders said it recorded two more deaths following drone strikes launched by the Sudanese army in the Darfur region. The organization said it had treated 56 people wounded in the attack.

Children have been disproportionately affected by the aerial attacks. UNICEF said drones were responsible for nearly 80 percent of the at least 245 children reported killed or injured during the first three months of the year. A UNICEF spokeswoman said drones are killing and wounding children in their homes, markets, on roads, and near schools and health facilities.

Fletcher said the risk of wider regional instability was high, noting that millions had been driven from their homes across Sudan and beyond its borders. Women and girls are facing systemic and brutal sexual violence, he said in a statement. Nearly 34 million people in Sudan, almost two-thirds of the population, need humanitarian support, according to the statement.

Hundreds of thousands of children are acutely malnourished, with millions being deprived of education across the country. The World Food Programme said more than 19 million people in Sudan face acute hunger and that famine affects large areas of Darfur and Kordofan.

Sudan is approaching the third anniversary of the conflict between its army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. Neither the Sudanese army nor the RSF responded to the allegations regarding the drone strikes.