Strikes on Darfur market in Sudan killed more than 100, rights group says

Military drone strikes in southwestern Sudan's Darfur that killed more than 100 individuals – mostly women and children – earlier this week targeted a busy city market frequented by paramilitary fighters, witnesses stated.

Key points

• Emergency Lawyers, a rights group tracking violence, put the toll from Monday's attacks at more than 100 dead and 113 wounded.
• A cigarette vendor informed the Associated Press news agency on Wednesday that hundreds of RSF fighters gathered at the market on the evening of the attack.
• Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, remarked that a second strike hit a civilian neighbourhood after the market attack.
• Casualty figures from Monday's attack are unconfirmed and could not be independently verified against the backdrop of limited information from the city.
• Drone strikes have become the leading cause of civilian deaths in Sudan, the United Nations documented, in a war that has pushed parts of the country into famine.

While Emergency Lawyers documented that most of the victims were women and children, witnesses stated on Wednesday that multiple civilian vendors who sold goods to paramilitary fighters were among those killed in the attack in Nyala, the South Darfur city that serves as the de facto capital of Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Backing Forces (RSF). The war between the RSF and the army, now in its fourth year, has created severe poverty, food shortages and the world's worst displacement crisis.

Notably, a cigarette vendor informed the Associated Press news agency on Wednesday that hundreds of RSF fighters gathered at the market on the evening of the attack. He remarked that he moved his stall between gatherings of the paramilitary fighters to sell cigarettes and that a drone struck around 8pm (18: 00 GMT), killing dozens of fighters and women selling food.

Another witness informed the AP that the explosion was massive and killed numerous fighters. He estimated that around 14 civilians, including women and children, were additionally killed, most of them women selling tea and food. Both spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. 'Constant fear of further bombardment'.

Mubarak Bekheit, an aid worker in Darfur, remarked on Wednesday that numerous individuals remained missing and some bodies had yet to be recovered from homes in the area after the 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 cost. While living under the constant fear of further bombardment, " he remarked, they lose their lives, their loved ones, and their homes.

Mohamed Didan, the 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 from Monday's attack are unconfirmed and could not be independently verified against the backdrop of limited information from the city. Sudan Doctors Network, another group that tracks violence, issued a statement on Wednesday preliminarily reporting 21 dead and more than 40 wounded, saying shelling caused most of the deaths.

"The release of this statement was delayed. Given the challenges of accessing field documentation sources within Nyala amid ongoing active military operations and security constraints that hinder efforts to monitor and verify the conditions of victims and the injured, " the group remarked.

Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, remarked that a second strike hit a civilian neighbourhood after the market attack. MSF remarked a hospital it supports in Nyala received 36 bodies in the hours after the strike, 21 of them wearing civilian clothing, and that 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 remarked in an official note. "All parties to the conflict must protect civilians."

Drone strikes have become the leading cause of civilian deaths in Sudan, the United Nations documented, in a war that has pushed parts of the country into famine. 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 published earlier this month.

In short, strikes on Darfur market in Sudan killed more than 100, rights group is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.