Early May and mid-June 2025, the SAF carried out several drone strikes on Nyala,641 a strategic RSF stronghold.642 In May 2026, the SAF reportedly carried out 17 drone strikes in Nyala, the highest monthly number recorded in the city since the beginning of the conflict.643 During the reference period, drone strikes were also reported in other areas of the state,644 for example in the Sengo Gold mining area, in April 2026.645
During the reference period, South Darfur was affected by communal violence between tribes. Media reported on clashes involving members of different groups, including Habbaniya,646 Salamat, Beni Halba,647 Sa’ada, and Ta’aliba.648 An article also mentioned the Awlad Al Wadi,649 and Fiyarin who are reportedly Beni Halba clans.650 Clashes were reported, for example, in Buram651 and Buba area in October 2025,652 in Al-Qardoud area in December 2025,653 in the town of Markandi in February 2026,654 and around Kubum in May 2026.655 As of June 2026, clashes between Salamat and Beni Halba tribes continued in Kubum and Markundi.656 Clashes between herders and farmers particularly affected Labado and Marla areas.657
The conflict sometimes involved RSF-infighting driven by increasing competition among local commanders over power and resources.658 In October 2025, RSF personnel reportedly supported their relatives involved in the clashes between two Beni Halba clans,659 and in March 2026, an RSF Salamat commander killed an RSF Habbaniya commander over a displacement dispute in Nyala.660 In May 2026, RSF vehicles were used in tribal clashes,661 while in June 2026, the reported use of heavy weaponry suggested senior RSF involvement in clashes between Salamat and Beni Halba.662
- 641
Ayin Network et al., Sudan Conflict Monitor # 21, 1 July 2025, url, p. 3
- 642
MEE, Sudan’s army and RSF militia enter bone-breaking phase in Nyala and Port Sudan, 16 May 2025, url
- 643
ACLED, How has Sudan's drone war adapted to shifting supply lines?, 4 June 2026, url
- 644
Sudan Human Rights Hub and STPT, Sudan Conflict Monitor # 27, 15 June 2026, url, p. 6; Sudan Human Rights Hub and STPT, Sudan Conflict Monitor # 26, 15 May 2026, url, p. 7; UNSG, Statement attributable to the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General - on Sudan, 12 December 2025, url
- 645
Sudan Human Rights Hub and STPT, Sudan Conflict Monitor # 26, 15 May 2026, url
- 646
Darfur 24, Nine Dead, 18 Injured in Tribal Clashes in South Darfur, 3 October 2025, url
- 647
Sudan Tribune, Villages burned and civilians flee as tribal clashes erupt in South Darfur using RSF vehicles, 31 May 2026, url; Darfur 24, Tribal Clash Near Nyala Leaves More Than 17 Dead, Injured, 12 February 2026, url; Sudan Tribune, Expanding tribal conflict in South Darfur leaves 50 dead, 3 June 2026, url
- 648
Darfur 24, Tribal Clashes in South Darfur Kill 10, Injure More Than 20, 15 December 2025, url
- 649
Darfur 24, Tribal Clash Near Nyala Leaves More Than 17 Dead, Injured, 12 February 2026, url
- 650
Darfur 24, Two Killed, 18 Injured in Tribal Clashes in South Darfur, 21 October 2025, url
- 651
Darfur 24, Nine Dead, 18 Injured in Tribal Clashes in South Darfur, 3 October 2025, url
- 652
Darfur 24, Two Killed, 18 Injured in Tribal Clashes in South Darfur, 21 October 2025, url
- 653
Darfur 24, Tribal Clashes in South Darfur Kill 10, Injure More Than 20, 15 December 2025, url; Ayin Network, Herders vs. farmers: No harvests possible in hunger-stricken Darfur, 30 December 2025, url
- 654
Darfur 24, Tribal Clash Near Nyala Leaves More Than 17 Dead, Injured, 12 February 2026, url
- 655
Sudan Tribune, Villages burned and civilians flee as tribal clashes erupt in South Darfur using RSF vehicles, 31 May 2026, url; Sudan Human Rights Hub and STPT, Sudan Conflict Monitor # 27, 15 June 2026, url, p. 6
- 656
Sudan Tribune, Expanding tribal conflict in South Darfur leaves 50 dead, 3 June 2026, url; Sudan Tribune, Drone attack hits market and hospital in South Darfur as tribal war intensifies, 2 June 2026, url
- 657
Ayin Network, Herders vs. farmers: No harvests possible in hunger-stricken Darfur, 30 December 2025, url
- 658
ACLED, How is RSF infighting reshaping the war in Sudan?, 18 May 2026, url
- 659
Darfur 24, Two Killed, 18 Injured in Tribal Clashes in South Darfur, 21 October 2025, url
- 660
ACLED, How is RSF infighting reshaping the war in Sudan?, 18 May 2026, url
- 661
Sudan Tribune, Villages burned and civilians flee as tribal clashes erupt in South Darfur using RSF vehicles, 31 May 2026, url
- 662
Sudan Human Rights Hub and STPT, Sudan Conflict Monitor # 27, 15 June 2026, url, p. 6