Sudan drone strike kills at least 24 civilians, including eight children

KHARTOUM, Sudan — A drone attack by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces killed at least 24 people, including eight children, when it struck a vehicle carrying displaced families in central Sudan on Saturday, according to a local doctors' group.

The Sudan Doctors Network said the attack occurred near the city of Er Rahad in North Kordofan province. The victims were refugees fleeing active fighting, and the group noted that two infants were among the children killed.

The strike followed another drone attack on Friday that targeted a World Food Programme aid convoy. That assault left one person dead and several others injured, further destabilizing humanitarian relief efforts.

Sudan's civil war began in April 2023 and has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and millions of displacements, triggering the world's largest humanitarian crisis.

Recent reports indicate famine is spreading across the country. Experts expect acute malnutrition among women and children to worsen through 2026.

The latest offensive by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) represents more than a tactical escalation; it is a calculated strategy designed to paralyze humanitarian corridors and institutionalize the use of famine as a tool of war. By deploying drones against "soft targets"—specifically convoys transporting internally displaced persons and essential food supplies—the RSF is effectively attempting to sever the lifelines of military-controlled territories, placing extreme pressure on both the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the civilian population.

On the diplomatic front, the response from Riyadh signals a significant geopolitical shift. Saudi Arabia’s increasingly sharp condemnation of the RSF, alongside thinly veiled critiques of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as a primary arms supplier, underscores a widening fracture within the Gulf Cooperation Council regarding the Sudanese conflict. This suggests that Riyadh’s patience with the ongoing proxy war is exhausted, potentially paving the way for intensified diplomatic pressure to force a cessation of hostilities.

In Washington, the conflict has ascended to a top-tier foreign policy priority for the incoming Trump administration. Recent statements from advisor Massad Boulos indicate that the crisis is being monitored at the highest levels. The "zero-tolerance" rhetoric regarding attacks on U.S.-funded aid suggests a pivot toward more aggressive intervention, likely involving targeted sanctions against RSF commanders and their external enablers. By framing the protection of humanitarian assets and the prevention of war crimes as a core U.S. interest, the administration is shifting the Sudanese crisis from a neglected regional conflict to a critical flashpoint in its global policy agenda.

While the humanitarian crisis in Sudan has no direct impact on Vietnamese-American economic interests or visa categories such as F2B or EB-5, the images of displaced families and the tragedy of war resonate on a personal level. For the generations who survived the war and the refugee journey to build our community—from the businesses in Little Saigon to the nail salon industry—these scenes trigger a shared sense of trauma. Even as our daily lives revolve around phở restaurants and remittances back home, the suffering in Sudan serves as a poignant reminder of the displacement that once defined the Vietnamese diaspora.