Drone Strikes on Market in Sudan's Nyala Kill Scores, Accounts Differ on Toll and Targets

Drone strikes on a busy market in Nyala, in southwestern Sudan's Darfur region, killed more than 100 people on Monday, according to the rights group Emergency Lawyers. The group said 113 others were wounded and that most of the dead were women and children.

Nyala, in South Darfur, is the de facto capital of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Witnesses said on Wednesday that the market was a gathering place for RSF fighters, and that several civilian vendors who sold goods to them were among the victims. The war between the RSF and the army is now in its fourth year and has produced severe poverty, food shortages and the world's worst displacement crisis.

A cigarette vendor told the Associated Press that hundreds of RSF fighters had gathered at the market on the evening of the attack. He said he moved his stall between groups of fighters to sell cigarettes, and that a drone struck at around 8pm (18:00 GMT), killing dozens of fighters and women who were selling food. A second witness described a massive explosion that killed many fighters. He estimated that about 14 civilians died, most of them women selling tea and food. Both men asked not to be named for fear of retaliation.

Mubarak Bekheit, an aid worker in Darfur, said many people were still missing and that some bodies had not been recovered from homes in the area, because the strike hit a civilian neighbourhood. "Civilians are the ones paying the highest price," he said, describing people who lose their lives, loved ones and homes while living "under the constant fear of further bombardment."

The army-aligned side gave a different account. Mohamed Didan, spokesperson for the Special Operations Forces fighting alongside the army, wrote on Facebook that more than 150 "militia recruits" were killed at the Dumaya camp, west of Nyala, in what he called a "precise and targeted air strike."

None of the casualty figures could be independently verified, as little information is coming out of the city. The Sudan Doctors Network issued a preliminary statement on Wednesday reporting 21 dead and more than 40 wounded, saying shelling caused most of the deaths. It said the statement was delayed by difficulties reaching field sources in Nyala amid active military operations and security constraints.

Doctors Without Borders, known as MSF, said a second strike hit a civilian neighbourhood after the market attack. A hospital the organization supports in Nyala received 36 bodies in the hours after the strike, 21 of them in civilian clothing, and its teams saw more than 150 wounded in the emergency room. MSF called the strikes "appalling" and said that "markets, homes, and key civilian infrastructure are not targets." It urged all parties to protect civilians.

The United Nations has reported that drone strikes are now the leading cause of civilian deaths in Sudan, 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 percent to 11 percent, according to UN estimates released earlier this month.