Drones disrupt education and strike civilian sites in El Obeid, Sudan

Drones flying over El Obeid are disrupting education and causing significant fear among students and teachers in Sudan. Shashwat Saraf, the Norwegian Refugee Council’s (NRC) country director, reported that schools are being forced to regularly suspend lessons due to the presence of drones overhead.

Recent drone strikes in the area have targeted various civilian sites, including a university dormitory, a shelter for displaced families, and warehouses in the Sheikan locality containing over 330,000 textbooks. El Obeid is home to more than 500,000 people, including tens of thousands who have been displaced by fighting in other parts of Kordofan and Sudan.

The NRC, working with its partner the Alsalam Organisation for Rehabilitation and Development (AORD), supports learning centers in the city that have enrolled more than 5,500 pupils. The organization is also working to help children cope with the stress and fear caused by the ongoing instability and the lack of certainty regarding their safety during school hours.