Sudan: In El Obeid, Sudanese Women Face Drones By Day, Rape By Night, to Reach Water

What the report says

AllAfrica, carrying a UN News Service report dated 24 July 2026, reported that UN Women has warned of extreme risks facing women and girls in El Obeid, the capital of Sudan’s North Kordofan state, as they try to obtain water. Anna Mutavati, UN Women’s regional director for East and Southern Africa, told journalists from Nairobi that daytime drone attacks and nighttime sexual violence have left them with no safe time to reach water points.

According to the report, drones have struck water points and distribution sites during daylight, while women who wait until dark have faced harassment, rape and other sexual violence. UN Women described the situation as a “dual terror” and said the pattern recalls abuses documented in El Fasher. The article said foreign-made drones have widened the conflict’s impact on civilian life, and cited UN human rights data indicating drone strikes killed at least 880 civilians in the first four months of 2026.

El Obeid is strategically important because it sits on routes connecting Khartoum with Darfur, Kordofan and southern Sudan. The city has more than 500,000 residents, including 83,000 internally displaced people, most of them women and children, the report said. Health risks are also rising as the rainy season approaches its peak, with cholera already present in Sudan and malnutrition weakening many people’s ability to withstand disease.

UN Women said demand for gender-based violence services in Sudan has quadrupled since the war began in April 2023, reaching an estimated 12.7 million women and girls in 2026. The agency warned that women-led groups providing protection and support are being forced to reduce or close services because of funding cuts, and renewed calls for a ceasefire, inclusive peace talks and an end to the conflict.