Drone Attack on Crowded Market in Central Sudan Kills 28, Rights Group Reports

Sudan. A rights group reported on Monday that 28 people were killed in a drone attack on a crowded market in central Sudan.

The attack occurred in a paramilitary-controlled area in the far north of Sudan's Kordofan region, which is the largest flashpoint in the three-year-old war between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

According to Emergency Lawyers, a group monitoring atrocities in the conflict, the attack was carried out by several drones on the Al-Safiia market outside the town of Sodari in North Kordofan on Sunday.

“The attack took place when civilians, including women, children, and the elderly, were crowded together,” the group said. It did not give any indication as to who carried out the attack.

The remote town of Sodari, which crosses a dry port, is about 230 kilometers (132 miles) northwest of El-Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan state, which the RSF has been trying to encircle for months.

Fatal drone attacks have increased in the Kordofan region as both sides fight along the country's crucial east-west line, which connects Darfur, controlled by the RSF, to the army-controlled capital Khartoum via El-Obeid.

Dozens of civilians have been killed at once in attacks by both sides in remote towns and villages.

Last Wednesday, two children were killed and a dozen injured in an attack on a school. The United Nations aid warehouse, which stores supplies for aid to deprived citizens, was severely damaged.

After strengthening its hold in Darfur last year, the RSF advanced eastward through oil- and gold-rich Kordofan in an attempt to seize Sudan's main route.

The war between the army and the RSF since April 2023 has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced nearly 11 million, creating the world's largest hunger and displacement crisis.

This has effectively divided the country into two parts, with the army controlling the center, north, and east, while the RSF controls the west and some parts of the south with their allies.