Sudan Army Accused of Drone Strikes Killing Over 200
Sudan's army has been accused of carrying out drone strikes that reportedly killed more than 200 people, including dozens of mourners travelling to a funeral.
Sources told the Sudan War Observatory that 150 people died in strikes in two areas of West Kordofan state on Sunday evening, while an official in Abyei said 73 people were killed in a separate strike on a market on Monday. BBC
In West Kordofan, a truck carrying around 200 mourners from an area north of Abyei was hit as it arrived in Al-Dabab, according to the Observatory. Sources told the group that 145 people on the truck were killed and five others died when a tent where mourners had gathered was hit. A further 150 people were injured.
On the same Sunday evening, army drones bombed a market in Al-Mujlad, also in West Kordofan, the Observatory said. The exact numbers of dead and injured there were not yet known. The group assessed that the wave of attacks was likely launched from Kadugli, a city in South Kordofan state held by the army.
The Monday strike hit Amiet Common Market, about 10km from Abyei town, at around 11:30 local time. Abyei Information Minister Yohana Akol Ngor put the death toll at 73. A military source told the BBC the army carried out that attack, describing the market as a fuel supply site for the RSF, the paramilitary force fighting the army. Satellite images reviewed by BBC Verify show extensive burnt buildings in the north-east corner of the market, also known in Arabic as Al-Na'am Market.
South Sudan summoned Sudan's ambassador to lodge a formal protest over the Abyei strike.
Sudan's army said it did not attack civilians even if it believed there were RSF fighters amongst them.
The reported deaths come during an intensification of drone attacks across Sudan. Medics and rights groups cited by Al Jazeera said more than 160 people had been killed in recent days. The army said it had struck RSF command centres in South Darfur, while the RSF and its allies said a crowded livestock market was hit there. Al Jazeera Military sources have previously said army drones target fuel markets to cut off smuggled fuel to RSF sites. Sudan Tribune
