During Sudan’s civil war, which erupted in April 2023, both sides have increasingly relied on drones, and civilians have borne the brunt of the carnage.The conflict between the Sudanese armed forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group is an example of war transformed by commercially available, easily concealable unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones.Modular, well-adapted to sanctions evasions and devastatingly effective, drones have killed scores of civilians, crippled infrastructure and plunged Sudanese cities into darkness.In this visual investigation, Al Jazeera examines the history of drone warfare in Sudan, the types of drones used by the warring sides, how they are sourced, where the attacks have occurred and the human toll.Janjaweed to RSF: The evolution of warfareThe RSF traces its origins to what at the time was a government-linked militia known as the Janjaweed. Sudan’s government mobilised it during the Darfur conflict in the early 2000s to suppress a rebellion in the western region.The United Nations accused the Janjaweed of war crimes and crimes against humanity for its tactics, including burning villages, mass killings and sexual violence.In 2013, the Sudanese government under President Omar al-Bashir, who was overthrown in 2019 after sustained popular protests, officially formalised the Janjaweed militias into the RSF under the command of General Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo.In 2015, …
