Abyei had never been struck from the air. The drones of October 19 have pushed the disputed territory into a new era of violence, just as Sudan’s war turns its fire on water, electricity and health care.
On October 19, for the first time in its history, Abyei came under drone attack. On Thursday, November 5, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, head of UN peace operations, laid out the toll before the Security Council: at least 30 dead, around 59 injured, large fires and dozens of civilians driven from their homes. In his view, the strikes add a new and worrying dimension to security in the territory claimed by both Sudan and South Sudan.
The death count remains unclear. Peacekeepers are still checking whether the figure is too low, and a Security Council statement issued in late October put the number of dead above 150. Guang Cong, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa, called the strikes one of the deadliest episodes the area has known.
They came a month after another tragedy. On September 15, clashes between members of the Ngok Dinka, Misseriya and Nuba communities left 124 people dead and 40 wounded around the Amiet common market. That trading site has become Abyei’s economic heart and a crossing point for more than 49,000 refugees and returnees escaping Sudan’s war. Such a concentration of goods and people, Lacroix cautioned, opens the door to criminal networks and armed groups alike.
The French diplomat believes the dangers now reach well beyond local intercommunal rivalries and are shaped by wider political and economic conflicts across the region. He voiced particular concern over the reported appointment of a Rapid Support Forces representative to the Abyei Joint Oversight Committee, a move that could create rival authorities and pull the area deeper into Sudan’s war. As the Council considers the future of the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei, he argued that no major overhaul of the mission is possible yet and called for stronger protection of peacekeepers against aerial threats. One encouraging sign stands out: security incidents fell by roughly 32% compared with the same period in 2025.
Across the border, the war has taken on a new shape. Denise Brown, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Sudan, condemns repeated strikes on power stations and fuel depots that starve aid agencies of the fuel their work depends on. On Tuesday, according to local sources, drones hit an electricity transmission station and the Roseires Dam in Ed Damazine, plunging the area into darkness. In Um Bader that same day, air strikes killed two women, wounded ten people and badly damaged two water stations. The Rapid Support Forces are concentrating their attacks on the power grid in army-held regions, where the military says it has tracked more than 180 drones in two months, and many now fear a partial collapse of the national network.
Health care along the border is also at risk. At the Wunthou crossing between Sudan and South Sudan, the only clinic could shut as early as December unless emergency funding arrives. The International Organization for Migration estimates that around 100,000 people would then lose all access to care. The cash shortage goes well beyond this one facility: with the year nearly over, the $2.9 billion humanitarian appeal for Sudan remains less than half funded.