Sudan army drones hit mourners and fuel market killing more than 200 people, sources say

ByRichard Kagoe, Lucy Fleming and Richard Irvine-Brown, BBC Verify.

Key points

• The death toll from strikes in two areas of West Kordofan state on Sunday evening was 150, sources informed the Sudan War Observatory.
• Medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) remarked it had additionally received individuals wounded in the attack at Ameth Bek Hospital in Abyei town.
• In Abyei, a disputed border area between Sudan and South Sudan, 73 individuals were killed when drones hit a market on Monday, the region's information minister stated.
• Army drones additionally bombed a market in the town of Al-Mujlad in West Kordofan on the same evening, according to the Sudan War Observatory.
• "We were surprised by bombing and thick smoke inside Amiet Common Market, which is located 10km from Abyei town, " he remarked.

Sudan's army has been accused of launching a number of drone strikes that have reportedly killed more than 200 residents, including dozens travelling to a funeral.

Notably, the death toll from strikes in two areas of West Kordofan state on Sunday evening was 150, sources informed the Sudan War Observatory. It tracks the conflict that erupted in 2023 between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Backing Forces (RSF).

Meanwhile, a military source informed the BBC the army had carried out the Abyei attack, saying the market was a fuel supply site for the RSF.

In practice, the attack has raised tensions between South Sudan and Sudan. It jointly administer Abyei, as they both claim ownership to the oil-rich region in a dispute that has remained unresolved since South Sudan ceded in 2011.

South Sudan has summoned Sudan's ambassador to lodge a formal protest. There are fears the conflict could spill throughout the border.

Despite a partial arms embargo on Sudan, foreign countries have been supplying both the army and the RSF with drones and they are increasingly becoming the weapon of choice in the conflict.

Notably, the war has created one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, killed hundreds of thousands of individuals and forced more than 14 million from their homes.

"We are alarmed by the continued deadly drone strikes across the country that are killing civilians, including children, and that are disrupting essential services, " UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric remarked on Monday, external.

Notably, the rising employ of armed drones came as 20 million residents faced acute hunger, with a rising risk of famine in parts of the western region of Darfur and Greater Kordofan, he noted.

Greater Kordofan comprises three states and is a vital axis linking Darfur, controlled by the RSF, to the capital, Khartoum, now in army hands. A simple guide to what is happening in Sudan.

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For context, the wave of drone attacks began on Sunday evening and, according to the Sudan War Observatory, it is probable they were introduced from the army-held city of Kadugli in South Kordofan state.

Meanwhile, a truck carrying around 200 mourners which had travelled from an area north of Abyei was hit as it arrived in the town of Al-Dabab in West Kordofan, the monitoring group remarked.

Sources informed the group that 145 residents were killed and a tent where mourners at the funeral had gathered was additionally hit, killing five others. A further 150 individuals were injured in the attacks, it stated.

Army drones additionally bombed a market in the town of Al-Mujlad in West Kordofan on the same evening, according to the Sudan War Observatory. It stated the exact number of deaths and injuries were not yet known.

Sudan's army has not responded to the allegation it carried out these strikes, but remarked it did not attack civilians even if they believed there were RSF fighters amongst them.

Meanwhile, the attack in Abyei, which borders West Kordofan, took place on Monday around 11: 30 local time (09: 30 GMT) and had killed 73 individuals, the region's Information Minister Yohana Akol Ngor informed Radio Tamazuj. It broadcasts from the Netherlands to audiences on the Sudan-South Sudan border.

BBC Verify has studied satellite images that show extensive burnt buildings in the north-east corner of Amiet Market. It is additionally known in Arabic as Al-Na'am Market. Older images from the area show it is usually full of trucks.

It has additionally verified footage filmed near the market that indicates a sizeable plume of smoke, at least one petrol tanker and someone talking concerning five missiles being fired. Another verified video demonstrates two massive, separate fires coming from buildings near that section of the market.

Ngor informed the Reuters news agency that emergency workers had struggled to retrieve the bodies as of fires caused by the strikes.

"So far we received over 20 patients, including a number of critical cases. Patients with burns were additionally admitted. We are providing surgical services and wound dressing, along with other emergency care, " MSF's Christian Lindauer, the charity's manager at the hospital, remarked in an official note.

Meanwhile, a drone strike near the airport in Khartoum on Monday has killed four individuals, including three children, the AFP news agency reports, quoting a medical source.

It additionally cited a military source as saying air defences in the Sudanese capital had downed a number of other drones introduced by the RSF towards the airport.

Fighting in Kordofan, a strategic area rich in gold and oil, has intensified over the last year after the army regained control of Khartoum from the RSF. Sudan's invisible children – born in war with no legal identity.

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Go to BBCAfrica.com, external for more news from the African continent.

In short, sudan army drones hit mourners and fuel market killing more than 200 is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.