Sudanese military airstrike on a market in the North Darfur killed more than 100 people, a pro-democracy advocacy group said, amid a war marked by atrocities on all sides.
The emergency rights group said Monday’s strike left hundreds injured in Kabkabiya, a town about 110 miles (180km) west of El Fasher, which was the capital city. besieged from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since May.
Tens of thousands have been killed and millions are injured in the 20-month war between the RSF and the Sudanese army, which has driven the northeastern African region to the brink of famine, according to aid agencies.
“Aërstike was carried out in the weekly market of the city, where residents from various neighboring towns had gathered to shop, resulting in the death of more than a hundred people and hundreds of people, including women and children,” a group of lawyers, which has He said on Tuesday that there had been documented human rights abuses in the conflict.
He described it as a “horrible massacre committed by an army of airstrians”, although he denied the responsibility of the soldiers. The army said in a statement that the accusations were “lies” spread by political parties of the RSF, adding that it was “exercising its legitimate right to defend the country”.
In footage sent to Agence France-Presse to show on Monday, people were seen sifting through the rubble as the charred remains of children lay on the scorched ground.
The source was supplied by the civil society organization, the Darfur Coordination Center for Refugees and Refugees, and the AFP could not verify its accuracy.
Mohamed Abdiladif, interim country director for Servants of the Sons SudanHe said the attack was “unacceptable”, especially because it happened on a market day when families were buying food.
“There is no safe place now for the children of the ongoing conflict in North Darfur,” he said, noting the ongoing attacks on the Zamzam camp, the largest refugee camp in the state, which has displaced some 500,000 people, and the surrounding areas.
He called on the warring parties to protect markets, schools, hospitals and other vital public infrastructure, “not only a moral obligation, but a vital step to ensure a stable, peaceful and prosperous future for Sudan.”
A group of lawyers said that in a separate incident on Monday, barrel bombs hit three neighborhoods in Nyala, in the capital of South Darfur, without reporting any casualties.
Darfur, a region the size of France, is home to about a quarter of Sudan’s population, but more than half of its 10 million people.
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A UN-backed report in July said famine has taken hold in the Zamzam camp after a months-long RSF siege has crippled nearly all trade and aid access. Almost 26 million people – about half of the population – are facing the threat of famine, with both sides accused of using the famine weapon.
The group of lawyers said it condemned “in the most serious terms the horrific massacres committed by the army” in Kabkabiya.
The group flagged another accident in North Kordofan state in which a drone that crashed on November 26 exploded on Monday evening, killing six people.
Recent strikes across Sudan have been part of an “escalating campaign … deliberately forced into densely populated residential areas,” contradicting claims by warring parties that they are only targeting military targets.
On Tuesday, Human Rights Watch accused the RSF and allied Arab militias of committing numerous abuses against civilians in South Kordofan state from December 2023 to March 2024.
The organization of the group has been accused of “war crimes” with “killings, robberies, and abductions of the Nuba ethnic population, as well as robbery and destruction of houses.”
The group urged the UN and the African Union to develop a mission to protect civilians.