Darfur market drone strikes kill more than 100, mostly women and children, rights group says

Emergency Lawyers, which tracks violence in Sudan, put the toll at more than 100 dead and 113 wounded from the strikes, which hit a busy city market frequented by fighters from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Witnesses told the Associated Press that multiple civilian vendors were killed, and that the attack struck around 8pm local time (18:00 GMT).

The war between the RSF and the Sudanese army, now in its fourth year, has created severe poverty, food shortages and the world’s worst displacement crisis. Drone strikes have become the leading cause of civilian deaths, the United Nations reported, amid a conflict that has pushed parts of the country into famine.

A cigarette vendor who spoke on condition of anonymity said hundreds of RSF fighters gathered at the market on the evening of the attack, and that he moved his stall between gatherings to sell cigarettes before a drone struck, killing dozens of fighters and women selling food. Another witness estimated that around 14 civilians, including women and children, were killed, most of them women selling tea and food. Both spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.

Mubarak Bekheit, an aid worker in Darfur, said many people remained missing and some bodies had yet to be recovered from homes after a strike hit a civilian neighbourhood. “I personally know that war has no morality, but the reality we witness every day is that civilians are the ones paying the highest price. They lose their lives, their loved ones, and their homes, while living under the constant fear of further bombardment,” he said.

Mohamed Didan, official spokesperson for the Special Operations Forces fighting with the army, wrote on Facebook that more than “150 militia recruits” were killed at the Dumaya camp, west of Nyala, in what he described as a “precise and targeted air strike”.

Casualty figures could not be independently verified amid limited information from the city. The Sudan Doctors Network, another monitoring group, preliminarily reported 21 dead and more than 40 wounded, saying shelling caused most of the deaths. It said the release of its statement was delayed because of challenges accessing field documentation amid ongoing military operations.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said a second strike hit a civilian neighbourhood after the market attack. A hospital it supports in Nyala received 36 bodies in the hours after the strike, 21 of them wearing civilian clothing, and its teams saw more than 150 wounded in the emergency room. MSF called the strikes “appalling”.

“Markets, homes, and key civilian infrastructure are not targets,” the group said in a statement. “All parties to the conflict must protect civilians.”

In RSF-controlled Nyala, the share of children seeking treatment for severe acute malnutrition more than doubled between January and August, from 5 to 11 percent, according to UN estimates released earlier this month.