A new surge of violence in Sudan's Nuba Mountains has intensified the country's protracted civil war, shifting the conflict's centre of gravity and raising renewed concerns over the safety of civilian populations.
According to information reported by The Telegraph on 01 December 2025, a drone strike carried out by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) on Sunday 30 November 2025 killed dozens of people, many of them children and students, in what appears to have been a "double-tap" attack.
A targeted strike on civilians
The incident occurred in Kumo, a village located around ten kilometres east of Kauda, a major agricultural town in the region. Reports from the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), which controls the area, state that at least 48 civilians were killed. Many of the victims were children and students from Hakima Health College, while eight additional people remained in critical condition.
The SPLM-N, which has fought successive Sudanese governments since 1983, said the strike had no legitimate military purpose. In its statement, cited by The Telegraph, the SPLM-N explicitly accused the Sudanese army of deliberately targeting civilians in a non-combat area. The group emphasised that the site was neither a military target nor an active combat zone, stressing that the attack formed part of a longer pattern of violence historically experienced in the Nuba Mountains and other marginalised regions. Independent sources speaking to The Telegraph also confirmed that a second strike hit the area minutes after the first, killing civilians who had rushed to assist the initial victims.
Images reportedly taken at the scene depict severe destruction, including charred remains and crushed bodies. The Telegraph noted that it was unable to verify these images independently.
Growing fears over the use of drones
Humanitarian actors operating in the region expressed deep concern about the nature of the strike.
Anthony Jamal, food security coordinator at the Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Agency in Nuba, described it to The Telegraph as the worst deliberate killing of civilians he had encountered in the area.
Johannes Plate, CEO of the South Kordofan Blue Nile Coordination Unit (SKBNCU), emphasised the precision of the attack, suggesting that those responsible appeared aware of the presence of large numbers of civilians. He reiterated that the strike, as reported, was conducted by the Sudanese Armed Forces, underscoring the accuracy with which the drones were deployed. He noted that local populations had long relied on foxholes and trenches to protect themselves from aerial bombardments such as those carried out during the 2011 conflict, when the Sudanese Armed Forces used Antonov cargo planes to bomb hospitals and civilian infrastructure.
However, he warned that drones now represent a "new danger", pointing out that they are almost inaudible until it is too late for civilians to seek shelter.
The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) have not released a comment on the incident. Local media reports cited by The Telegraph suggest the army has recently targeted SPLM-N training sites and supply facilities.
A conflict reshaping Sudan's political and humanitarian map
Sudan has been engulfed in civil war since April 2023, when fighting broke out between Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy, Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti. The conflict has forced 14 million people from their homes. Former US special envoy Tom Perriello has estimated the death toll may have reached 400,000, while the UN continues to describe the situation as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
Last month, famine was confirmed in Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan, where the SAF siege has cut access to food, water and medical supplies for hundreds of thousands of residents. Meanwhile, clashes have intensified between the SAF and the SPLM-N.
According to the Ayin network, a Sudanese independent media organisation following the conflict, the Kordofan region hosts Sudan's main oil fields and serves as a strategic buffer zone between Darfur and eastern Sudan. Ayin notes that the army aims to secure control of this oil-producing area and to use it as an operational route toward Darfur.
