‘This is not about politics. This is about people’: UN warns of impact of deadly drone strikes in Sudan

Hundreds of aid trucks are stranded due to fuel shortages, while hospitals are struggling to maintain lifesaving services, including dialysis. 

Speaking to UN News, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Denise Brown urged the international community to intervene to end the fighting and provide urgently needed funding, saying: “This is not about politics. This is about people.”

UN News: Let me begin by asking about the escalating drone attacks and their devastating impact on civilians. What are you seeing on the ground?

Denise Brown: There's been an intense pattern of drone strikes over the past couple of weeks. What we're seeing is what appear to be targeted attacks on civilian infrastructure, which, of course, is protected under international humanitarian law.

Sources of energy and fuel appear to be systematically targeted and destroyed. So already there's an apparent violation here. 

Essential services are also being massively disrupted. Colleagues from the World Health Organization (WHO) were at a hospital just outside Khartoum, and the electricity went out because of these drone strikes. The hospital has no generator, no solar panels. So, the 25 people who need dialysis had their treatment stopped, point blank. 

There was nothing they could do without electricity. This affects women giving birth, children and everyone else. The same goes for water. There are also widespread fuel shortages.

In Khartoum, there are queues kilometres long as people wait for fuel. But what we're seeing is tuk-tuk drivers – those who take people to work and to the market. 

These are people who earn a daily wage and are having to wait several days in a row to get fuel, which means they're not earning an income. That's the direct impact of the widespread intensification of drone strikes and their immediate consequences for the civilian population. 

We've also seen markets and displacement sites being hit. So, the attacks are widespread and, I have to say, increasingly worrying for us and scarring for the population.

UN News: Amid this escalation, can you tell us more about the UN's response on the ground and its main priorities right now?

Denise Brown: The UN humanitarian community works alongside international and national non-governmental organizations and local communities. It's the communities who are always the first to respond and who are consistently on the front line. But we have one priority, which is to save lives.

Because of the severe rainfall deficits over the past couple of months, we now have a new dimension to what is already a pre-existing catastrophe, quite frankly. 

Farmers have been faced with a lack of rainfall, so we know that in some parts of Darfur and Kordofan, people are on the move looking for food. But that's just an additional layer; it's not the only factor we're dealing with.

We have millions of people displaced who continue to be displaced because of the war. Basic social services have been disrupted, and the health system, despite best efforts, has been decimated. Severe acute malnutrition, as we know from the UN Children Fund (UNICEF)’s studies, is very high, exceeding the emergency threshold in many parts of the country, particularly those directly affected by the war. 

Our priority is to work with partners to provide services and supplies to people who, very frankly speaking, would die without that assistance.

UN News: What are your greatest concerns at this point?

Denise Brown: The UN has a very big supply chain for food, nutritious products, shelter and non-food items. That's really one of the added values of the UN humanitarian response. But we have hundreds of trucks stuck because of a lack of fuel.

Sometimes we face bureaucratic impediments, which we work with the authorities to overcome, and there's been huge progress regarding our visas and permits. Hopefully that continues, and I expect it will. But honestly, if we don't have fuel, we can't move. 

We can't provide food to people who need it, or support children suffering from severe acute malnutrition. A person has had to leave her house, and we don't have a tent to provide for her. 

So, I have multiple worries, and this is starting to become a really big one.

UN News: Beyond fuel shortages, what other significant constraints are UN agencies and their partners facing on the ground? And how are funding cuts affecting the response?

Denise Brown: We are in an active war zone, so there are no easy days here. Everything is difficult. We troubleshoot and solve problems constantly.

Very, very unfortunately, the World Food Programme (WFP), which moves thousands of trucks across this country carrying food for people who need it when local markets don't have food available, has had seven hits on its convoys just this year, and 20 over the past two years. 

That results in loss of life and loss of food that was intended for the people who needed it most.

Of course, it's a very difficult way for us to operate. So, we must navigate these risks, and we do that daily, trying to reach people in very difficult places like Dilling in South Kordofan, or parts of Blue Nile, Darfur and West Kordofan. 

It's a constant negotiation to make sure we can get people and supplies in safely and support the local communities on the frontlines.  

UN News: Turning to the protection of civilians and the prevention of further violations, what role does the UN play in strengthening protection on the ground?

Denise Brown: Our role within the country is different from our role outside the country. Within the country, our role is to make sure we are present where people need us. Protection by presence, so that we're there, we understand what's going on, and we can have conversations with communities. Is it the drone strikes? Is it women and children alone?

This war and the reports of conflict-related sexual violence surrounding the atrocities in El-Fasher in October 2025 are sky-high. 

We're talking about thousands and thousands of incidents of conflict-related sexual violence. We discuss our concerns very clearly with the authorities here and with the other actors. It is the responsibility of the UN humanitarian community to engage with all actors, and we do that and share those concerns.

But I think now, with the escalation of the drone strikes, and I don't know where those drone strikes are originating from, we need help passing the message to whoever needs to hear it, that this must stop. 

There is no defence for repeatedly hitting power stations and fuel stations. People who need lifesaving dialysis can't get it. Women are giving birth with no lights in the hospital. Operations can't take place.

First and foremost, it is the responsibility of those sending the drone strikes. And then it is up to UN Member States to understand what's going on here and really, really work to temper the current situation.

UN News: Finally, what is your message to the international community and regional actors?

Denise Brown: I could give you a whole list of how difficult it is here, but I can also tell you that we are able to deliver. 

We are very respectful of the local communities, local organizations, international and national NGOs and UN agencies who work under very difficult circumstances. But we've demonstrated that we can do our job.

We need to be funded to do more. WFP is cutting not just the number of people it serves in Sudan, but also its rations. 

I was in a camp in Abu Shandi in Blue Nile a couple of weeks ago, and people said to me, “We need food.” And I had to tell them, “Please be patient.” How can I tell people to be patient and wait for food? How does that happen? They have no money. They've left everything behind. They need us, and we need the donors.

This is not about politics. This is about people. It's about putting the people of Sudan front and centre of what is going on and making sure that at least we're taking care of their basic needs.