Drone Strike on Sudan Market Town Kills 80 as Both Sides Escalate Air Attacks

A drone strike on Sunday evening killed 80 people in the town of al-Dibab in Sudan's West Kordofan state, most of them commuters waiting for rides home after market day, the Guardian reported. It is one of the deadliest single strikes of a war that began in April 2023.

The attack came as drone strikes spread. A separate drone attack hit the capital, Khartoum, on Monday, according to ABC News and The Associated Press, while rights groups report mounting civilian deaths in the Kordofan region.

What happened in al-Dibab?

According to the Guardian, a witness named Ahmed Wadi said the drone struck twice, 10 minutes apart, at a transport hub where people gather to return to their villages after the market closes. Wadi, who spoke through a satellite internet connection because of a communications blackout, said he helped bury 50 bodies, including his brother Mohamed.

He said 47 other people were taken to the nearest town, al-Mujlad. A medical source who asked not to be named for safety reasons told the Guardian that 30 of them later died. The medic put the total killed at 80 and said another drone strike on al-Mujlad injured four people, who are being treated.

Who is blamed, and do accounts differ?

The Guardian reported that Tasis, the administration declared by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), accused the Sudanese army of carrying out the strike. All of West Kordofan is under RSF control.

ABC and the AP cited the group Emergency Lawyers, which tracks violence against civilians. It said the military hit a market in al-Muglad on Saturday and the Al-Dabab area on Sunday, killing dozens of civilians, including women and children. The group called the attacks violations of international humanitarian law. The place names are spelled differently across the reports, and ABC's account gives a less precise toll than the Guardian's figure of 80.

What else is happening in the drone war?

ABC reported that a drone attack on Monday killed three children, aged two, four and six, in the Imtidad Nasser neighborhood east of Khartoum's airport. Emergency Lawyers blamed the RSF and called for an investigation and accountability. A resident told the AP he saw a drone heading toward the airport and heard anti-aircraft fire before an explosion. There was no immediate comment from the RSF.

The Guardian also noted that after drone strikes on a livestock market in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur state, on Friday, the army said it had killed RSF fighters, while the RSF said the military killed 30 civilians. Between January and April, drone strikes caused at least 880 civilian deaths, more than 80% of all conflict-related civilian deaths in Sudan, the Guardian reported.

What does this mean for civilians in Sudan?

The strikes are hitting places where ordinary people gather, such as markets and transport hubs, and the reports describe a conflict in which both sides are stepping up air attacks. Residents in areas under communications blackouts may also be harder to reach and to account for.

The humanitarian backdrop is severe. ABC cited conflict monitor ACLED as saying the war has killed at least 59,000 people, though aid groups believe the true toll is higher. According to U.N. figures, about 13 million people have been displaced. The U.N. says 33.7 million people, including 17.3 million children, urgently need aid this year, and an estimated 825,000 children face severe acute malnutrition.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a global hunger monitor, warned last week that conflict and drought are worsening food insecurity in Darfur and Kordofan. Two displacement camps there recorded malnutrition levels above famine thresholds.

How is the world responding?

Last week, Rosemary DiCarlo, the U.N. undersecretary-general for political and peacebuilding affairs, told the Security Council the crisis was worsening “with no breakthrough on the horizon,” according to the Guardian. She said the warring parties are not moving toward dialogue and appear to believe they can gain more on the battlefield, aided by continued outside support.

ABC reported that the United States urged the Security Council on Friday to press for a humanitarian truce and to widen an arms embargo on Sudan. China and Russia opposed expanding the embargo.

Sources: The Guardian, ABC News