Nearly 700 civilians have been killed in a surge of drone strikes across Sudan since January, the United Nations says, highlighting the accelerating human cost of a war that has shattered the country and destabilised the wider region.

UN officials and humanitarian agencies report that the majority of the deaths occurred within a matter of weeks, as drones were deployed with increasing frequency over densely populated areas. Witnesses describe small, buzzing aircraft circling above towns in Kordofan and Darfur before unleashing explosives on homes, markets and makeshift camps sheltering displaced families.

The UN children’s agency says children are disproportionately affected, with drones striking near schools and playgrounds and in neighbourhoods where families had sought refuge from ground fighting. Medical workers in Darfur and central Sudan report treating shrapnel wounds, burns and crush injuries in overcrowded clinics that lack basic supplies.

The conflict pits Sudan’s regular army against the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in a struggle for control that has fractured state institutions and fuelled local militias. Tens of thousands have been killed since the war erupted, while more than 11 million people have been forced from their homes, many of them multiple times as front lines shift.

UN agencies estimate that over 19 million people are now facing acute hunger. Fields have been abandoned, trade routes cut and fuel prices pushed far beyond the reach of ordinary households. In some besieged areas, aid workers report families surviving on wild plants or a single meal a day.

The International Committee of the Red Cross says more than 11,000 people have been reported missing since the conflict began, a number believed to be a fraction of the true total. With telecommunications networks destroyed or frequently cut, families go months without news of relatives who fled bombardments or were detained at checkpoints.

The UN describes Sudan as the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, with nearly two-thirds of the population in need of assistance. Yet relief operations remain critically underfunded and hampered by insecurity, bureaucratic obstruction and repeated attacks on aid convoys and warehouses.

Humanitarian officials warn that unless the drone strikes and wider hostilities are curbed, and safe, sustained access for aid is secured, Sudan risks sliding further into famine, mass displacement and a protracted catastrophe that will reverberate far beyond its borders.