A deadly drone strike on a crowded marketplace in the city of Nyala, South Darfur, has resulted in more than 100 civilian deaths and left at least 113 others injured, according to reports from rights groups and local officials. The attack occurred on Monday evening at the Tanqong Market, situated in the Dumaya neighbourhood of the city, which is currently under the control of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Emergency Lawyers, a rights group actively documenting violence across Sudan, confirmed the incident in a statement released on Tuesday. The organisation has attributed the strike to the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and has formally called for an independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding the attack. Eyewitness accounts provided to the Darfur Victims Organisation described the scene as the market was hit while civilians were engaged in daily activities, including shopping and eating breakfast.
The scale of the human toll has been reported by multiple sources. Dr. Alaa al-Din Nugud, the health minister within the RSF-aligned Tasis administration, stated that 102 civilians lost their lives in the strike. Following the event, medical teams were dispatched to the site, and regional hospitals and health centres were placed on high alert to manage the influx of casualties. Adam Musa Obama, the executive director of the Darfur Victims Organisation, noted that his team had documented at least 14 civilian deaths, including six children and 12 women, while also highlighting the broader reports of over 100 total casualties.
Medical aid organisations have also been overwhelmed by the aftermath of the strike. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) reported that their hospital in Nyala received 36 bodies following the attack and provided emergency care to 150 injured people. The high number of casualties has intensified concerns regarding the impact of the ongoing conflict on the civilian population in Darfur.
Drone warfare has become an increasingly significant and lethal element of the war in Sudan, which has been ongoing since April 2023. Both the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have been identified as users of explosive-laden drones. These aerial attacks have frequently targeted civilian-heavy areas, including schools, hospitals, and displacement camps, drawing sharp criticism from international observers.
The United Nations has frequently identified the use of these drones as the most severe threat to civilian life in the current conflict. Since the outbreak of hostilities in Khartoum, the violence has spread rapidly across the nation, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths and the displacement of millions. The ongoing crisis, described by the United Nations as the world's largest humanitarian emergency, has left an estimated 34 million people in desperate need of urgent assistance.
As the situation remains volatile, local authorities and rights groups continue to urge for measures to protect non-combatants from the escalating use of unmanned aerial vehicles in populated zones. The attack in Nyala stands as one of the most significant recent incidents involving civilian infrastructure, further highlighting the precarious nature of life for those caught in the centre of the Sudanese conflict.
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