Between January and June 2025, OHCHR documented six civilian deaths in the context of the conflict in Blue Nile.1139 Between March 2025 and April 2026, AOAV recorded 168 casualties resulting from explosive weapons use in Blue Nile1140 with the only recorded casualties for 2025 recorded in October (8 casualties)1141 followed by a sharp uptick in January 2026 (125 casualties)1142 and 35 casualties in February 2026.1143 From the start of 2026, there were multiple reports of civilian casualties resulting from drone strikes.1144 The UN reported more than 20 civilians killed in clashes in Geisan town in August 2026.1145 Around the same time, Sudan Tribune reported the discovery of a mass grave containing the bodies of 25 civilians following the SAF takeover of Kurmuk town from the RSF.1146 ACLED observed that the security incidents it recorded in Blue Nile between 1 March 2025 and 31 August 2026 caused an estimated 845 fatalities.1147
Figure 29: Fatalities as a result of armed conflict in Blue Nile, 1 March 2025 – 31 August 2026, based on ACLED data1148
- 1139
OHCHR, Human Rights Situation in the Sudan (1 January to 30 June 2025), 19 September 2025, url, p. 17
- 1140
EUAA analysis based on AOAV data. AOAV, Explosive Violence Monthly Reports, as of 31 August 2026, url
- 1141
AOAV, Explosive Violence in October 2025, 10 November 2025, url
- 1142
AOAV, Explosive Violence in January 2026, 10 February 2026, url
- 1143
AOAV, Explosive Violence in February 2026, 10 March 2026, url
- 1144
CFJ, Sudan: Committee for Justice Calls for the Protection of Civilians and an Investigation into Civilian Casualties Resulting from Shelling in Blue Nile and Darfur, 31 July 2026, url; Sudan Tribune, Sudanese army drone strike kills civilians in Blue Nile, rights group says, 24 July 2026, url; Dabanga, Dozens killed or displaced as drone strikes, fighting escalate across Sudan’s war zones, 4 May 2026, url; SUWRA, Sudan Crisis Update: Increasing Violence Targeting Civilians in Kordofan, Blue Nile, and White Nile States [Blog], 19 March 2026, url; Sudan Tribune, Civilian deaths reported in RSF drone strike on Blue Nile’s locality, 14 February 2026, url; Darfur 24, Civilians Hit by Drone Strike in Blue Nile, Casualties Reported, 12 January 2026, url
- 1145
UN News, Sudan: Attacks and further displacement in Blue Nile and North Kordofan, 12 August 2026, url
- 1146
Sudan Tribune, Mass graves found in Sudan’s Kurmuk after town recaptured from RSF, 9 August 2026, url
- 1147
EUAA analysis based on ACLED data. ACLED, Curated Data Files, Africa, data covering 1 March 2025 to 31 August 2026, as of 8 September 2026, url
- 1148
EUAA analysis based on ACLED data. ACLED, Curated Data Files, Africa, data covering 1 March 2025 to 31 August 2026, as of 8 September 2026, url