The smell of explosives is still in the air when we arrive.
Hours before, a displacement camp in Atbara housing families who fled the war in Sudan’s capital Khartoum was hit by two drone strikes in a four-pronged attack.
The first bomb on 25 April burned donated tents and killed the children in them.
The second hit a school serving as a shelter for the spillover of homeless families.
Chunks of cement and plaster had been blasted off the walls of the classrooms where they slept when the second explosive was dropped.
Blood marked the entrance of the temporary home closest to the crater.
Inside, shattered glass and broken window frames speak to the force of the explosion. We were told by their neighbours that four people in the family were instantly killed.
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“People were torn apart. This is inhumane,” says their neighbour Mahialdeen, whose brother and sister were injured. “We are praying that God lifts this catastrophe. We left Khartoum because of the fighting and found it here.”
Wiping a tear, he says: “It is chasing us.”
The sanctuary city held by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) about 200 miles northeast of Khartoum has been hit by six drone attacks by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since the start of the year.
These latest strikes are the most deadly.
The drones – known for targeting civilian infrastructure – hit the displacement camp twice, the nearby power station supplying the city with electricity and an empty field with four bombs in the dark, early hours of the morning. First responders have told Sky News that 12 people were killed, including at least two children.
RSF increasingly using drones to carry out attacks
Data from the conflict-monitoring organisation ACLED shows the RSF has carried out increasing numbers of drone attacks across the country.
The most targeted states have been Khartoum and North Darfur, where fighting on the ground has been fierce, as well as Atbara’s River Nile State.
The data suggests that the increase in strikes has been driven by a change in tactics following the SAF’s recapture of Khartoum in late March, with the number of strikes carried out by the RSF spiking shortly after their withdrawal from the capital.
Satellite imagery shows the RSF’s airpower has allowed it to continue to attack targets in and around Khartoum.
Nearby Wadi Seidna Airbase was targeted after the attack on Atbara, with damage visible across a large area south of its airfield.
We were given access to the remains of latest suicide drones launched at Khartoum and could not find discernible signs of commercial origin.
Drone experts told Sky News that they are self-built devices made from generic parts with no identifiable manufacturers for the components.
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Drones sighted in South Darfur are consistent with Chinese models
High-resolution satellite images confirm the presence of drones at the RSF-held Nyala Airport.
While the total number of drones kept at this location is unknown, imagery from Planet Labs shows six on 24 April.
This is the highest number of drones observed at the airport, suggesting an increase in the RSF’s available airpower.
The location and number of drones visible in satellite imagery at Nyala Airport has varied over time, suggesting they are in active use.
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While it is not possible to determine the exact model of drones sighted at Nyala Airport, a report published by researchers at the Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Lab has previously found them to be consistent with the Chinese-produced FH-95.
Analysis carried out by Sky News confirms these findings, with the measurements and visible features matching those of the CH-95 and FH-95. Both designs are produced in China.
The United Arab Emirates is widely accused of supplying Chinese drones to the RSF through South Sudan and Uganda, as well as weapons through Chad. The UAE vehemently denies these claims.
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Evidence of new airfields
Satellite imagery viewed by Sky News suggests the RSF has worked to increase its air capabilities outside of South Darfur.
In late 2024, five new airstrips appeared in West Kordofan between the contested cities of North Darfur capital Al Fashir and Khartoum.
While the purpose of these airstrips is unknown, it is clear they carry some level of military significance, having been targeted by air in April.
In high-resolution images, no aircraft can be seen. Damage is visible next to a structure that appears to be an aircraft hangar.
The rapid escalation in drone strikes is being brutally suffered on the ground.
In Atbara’s Police Hospital, we find a ward full of the injured survivors.
One of them, a three-year-old girl called Manasiq, is staring up at the ceiling in wide-eyed shock with her head wrapped in a bandage and her feet covered in dried blood.
Her aunt tells us the explosion flung her small body across the classroom shelter but she miraculously survived.
She has shrapnel in her head and clings onto her aunt as her mother is treated for her own injuries in a ward on the first floor.
In a dark room deeper in the ward, a mother sits on the edge of a hospital bed holding her young injured daughter. Her son, only slightly older, is on a smaller adjustable bed further away.
Fadwa looks forlorn and helpless. Her children were spending the night with relatives in the temporary tents when the first strike hit and killed her eight-year-old son.
His surviving sister and brother have been asking after him, but Fadwa can’t bring herself to break the news.
“What can I say? This is our fate. We fled the war in Khartoum but can’t escape the violence,” Fadwa says, staring off in the distance.
“We are condemned to this fate.”
