Strikes on a market in Sudan’s Kordofan region killed at least 28 people and wounded dozens on Sunday, Emergency Lawyers said, as the conflict between Sudan’s army and the Rapid Support Forces nears its three-year mark. The rights group said the attack hit a market in Sudri locality in North Kordofan province during busy hours when civilians were gathered.
Emergency Lawyers said the “repeated use of drones to target populated areas shows a grave disregard for civilian lives” and signaled an escalation that threatens daily life in the province. The group said it was seeking an immediate halt to drone attacks by both sides of the conflict and added that the number of casualties was likely to rise.
The rights group also said drones used in the attack belonged to Sudan’s army. It said the market bombing “exacerbat[ed] the humanitarian tragedy,” according to a statement Emergency Lawyers issued.
Two military officials told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity that the army does not target civilian infrastructure and denied responsibility for the market strike. The officials’ denial came after Emergency Lawyers said its drones assessment also relied on reports it shared on X.
The AP reported that the dispute over responsibility in the Kordofan market strike followed other recent drone-related incidents in the region. Over a week earlier, a drone near the city of Rahad in North Kordofan hit a vehicle carrying displaced families and killed at least 24 people, including eight children. A day before that, the AP said, a World Food Program aid convoy was targeted.
The fighting between the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese military broke out in April 2023 and has expanded into a full-scale war across the country. The World Health Organization has said at least 40,000 people have been killed and 12 million displaced so far, while aid groups have warned that the true death toll could be higher because fighting in vast and remote areas hampers access.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said recently that the Kordofan region remains “volatile and a focus of hostilities” as the two sides vie for control of strategic areas. Both parties have been accused of atrocities, and the U.N. Human Rights Office issued a report on Friday describing more than 6,000 deaths in late October in Sudan’s Darfur region after what it said was an RSF wave of intense violence.
The RSF’s offensive to capture the city of el-Fasher, which had been a military stronghold, included what the U.N. rights office said amounted to war crimes and possible crimes against humanity. Against that backdrop, Emergency Lawyers’ statement on the Kordofan market strike called for an immediate pause in drone attacks, arguing that targeting populated areas continues to endanger civilians.