Sudanese Army Drone Strikes Reportedly Killed Foreign Military Personnel in Nyala, Local Sources Say
Sudanese army drone strikes on Nyala, the South Darfur capital held by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), reportedly killed foreign military personnel and RSF members, according to witnesses and local sources quoted by the Sudanese outlet Darfur24 on Sunday 25 October 2026. Neither the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) nor the RSF has commented, the nationality and number of the foreigners have not been given, and DefenceMENA has not been able to verify the account independently.
What witnesses described
Witnesses and military sources told Darfur24 that a group of foreign military personnel, accompanied by RSF officers and their guards, arrived at a restaurant run by a woman in the Shawayat area east of the city’s livestock market. A drone fired a missile at the site as they arrived for breakfast, the sources said. According to the witnesses, RSF personnel evacuated several masked guards who died after the blast and then sealed off the area.
The restaurant owner was wounded and remains in a critical condition in the Turkish Hospital in Nyala, and two young women who worked with her were killed, the sources said. Another missile is reported to have hit an RSF headquarters in the Al-Masane’ (factories) area at the same time.
Other strikes in the city
Other sources told the outlet that the army’s air strikes also hit the state government secretariat, the headquarters of the 16th Infantry Division and the house of an RSF commander named as Mohamed Shurba, where family members and visiting guests were reported killed or wounded. Residents also said they heard six explosions early on Friday north of Nyala, where the Al-Mazlagan camps and the former UNAMID headquarters are located, and to the east of the city. The report does not give the date of the restaurant strike.
Darfur24 said the army had stepped up air sorties over Nyala in the past week, including a strike on the livestock market that killed and wounded civilians, and that both sides had increased drone use against markets, gold mines and fuel stations in Darfur and Kordofan, killing dozens of civilians.
Context
Allegations that foreign personnel are working alongside the RSF in Nyala have circulated for months. Earlier this month, pro-army commentators claimed on social media that an Emirati officer had been killed in Nyala; those claims have not been verified and the United Arab Emirates has repeatedly denied supporting the RSF. Darfur24’s report does not identify the foreigners. For background, see our explainer on how drones are being used in Sudan’s war, our report on the RSF commander in south Nyala who says he has defected to the army and our coverage of reported RSF drone attacks on Wad Madani.
Classification: REPORTED (single local outlet citing witnesses and military sources; no SAF or RSF statement; nationality of those killed unknown). Reproductions of the report by other Sudanese sites are not treated as independent confirmation. DefenceMENA will update this report.
Sources
