Sudan’s humanitarian crisis deepens as drone strikes cripple water and health services

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that repeated drone attacks in Sudan’s North Kordofan region have worsened an already severe humanitarian emergency. A strike on a civilian vehicle on July 6 and another on a water truck the following day caused civilian casualties and disrupted water supplies, leaving the city of El Obeid with only 20% of its water needs. Cholera is spreading, with the WHO pre‑positioning response supplies and UNICEF delivering health kits for roughly 240,000 people in South Kordofan. OCHA has allocated over $4 million from the Sudan Humanitarian Fund for food, nutrition, healthcare, water, sanitation and protection, while displacement in El Obeid has surged from 500,000 pre‑war to an estimated three million.

Amid the conflict, Ugandan‑born Sr. Cissy Nakagiri of the Canossian Sisters, now based in Tanzania, highlighted the broader suffering in Sudan. She described how agriculture in the Gezira region has collapsed, how armed fighters seized Catholic convents and schools, looted funds, and even desecrated religious items. Calling for global awareness, Sr. Cissy urged people to keep Sudan in their conscience and prayed for peace across war‑torn nations.