UN humanitarian officials expressed alarm on Monday over a series of drone strikes that have hit several Sudanese locations, causing civilian deaths and interrupting key services.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported drones striking sites in Khartoum, including near the airport, which resulted in a civilian fatality and the cancellation of multiple flights.

In West Darfur’s Bir Saliba area, a Saturday strike killed 11 people, nine of them children, and injured others.

A drone hit the Almawashi market in Nyala, South Darfur’s capital, last Friday, killing at least four people, including a child.

North Kordofan’s Abu Zabad locality was also targeted on Saturday, with reports of four civilian deaths and additional injuries.

OCHA mourned the death of a Sudanese Red Crescent volunteer who was providing first aid at a health centre in Um Darfa, Blue Nile State, after a drone strike on the facility the previous week.

Since the conflict began in April 2023, the UN says 25 Red Crescent volunteers have been killed while carrying out humanitarian duties.

The agency reminded that international humanitarian law obliges parties to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, including medical facilities and aid workers.

Rising food prices are adding pressure to families, with the World Food Programme noting a 24 % increase in its local food basket cost in September compared with August, driven by currency depreciation, fuel shortages and disrupted supply routes.

Despite these challenges, OCHA said UN partners continue to deliver life‑saving assistance, including the recent rehabilitation of a water facility in Zalingei, Central Darfur, which restored safe water for roughly 2,500 people and provided WASH aid to over 2,000 families.

Funding shortfalls threaten the humanitarian response, with the 2026 response plan only about 43 % financed – roughly US$1.2 billion of the nearly US$2.9 billion needed received so far.