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Sudan’s army has been accused of carrying out several drone strikes that reportedly killed more than 200 people, including dozens of people travelling to a funeral. The BBC reported that the army has not responded to allegations over the strikes in West Kordofan.
In two areas of West Kordofan state, 150 people were killed in strikes on Sunday evening, sources told the Sudan War Observatory, which monitors the conflict that began in 2023 between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
A further 73 people were killed on Monday when drones struck a market in Abyei, a disputed area on the border between Sudan and South Sudan, the region’s information minister said. A Sudanese military source told the BBC that the army carried out the attack, describing the market as an RSF fuel supply site.
The strike has heightened tensions between Sudan and South Sudan, which jointly administer Abyei and both claim the oil-rich region. The dispute has remained unresolved since South Sudan became independent in 2011. South Sudan has summoned Sudan’s ambassador to lodge a formal protest, amid fears the conflict could spread across the border.
Despite a partial arms embargo on Sudan, foreign countries have supplied drones to both the army and the RSF, and the aircraft are increasingly being used in the conflict. The war has killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced more than 14 million from their homes, creating one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
“We are alarmed by the continued deadly drone strikes across the country that are killing civilians, including children, and that are disrupting essential services,” UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said on Monday.
Dujarric said the increased use of armed drones came as 20 million people faced acute hunger, with the risk of famine rising in parts of Darfur and Greater Kordofan. Greater Kordofan comprises three states and is a key route linking RSF-controlled Darfur with Khartoum, which is now under army control.
Funeral gathering and market hit in West Kordofan
The Sudan War Observatory said the wave of drone attacks began on Sunday evening and was likely launched from Kadugli, a city held by the army in South Kordofan state.
A truck carrying about 200 mourners from an area north of Abyei was hit as it arrived in Al-Dabab, West Kordofan, the monitoring group said. Sources told the group that 145 people were killed. A tent where funeral mourners had gathered was also struck, killing five more people. Another 150 people were injured in the attacks, it said.
Army drones also struck a market in Al-Mujlad, West Kordofan, on Sunday evening, according to the Sudan War Observatory. The group said the number of people killed or injured there was not yet known.
Sudan’s army has not responded to the allegations that it carried out the strikes. It has said it does not attack civilians, even when it believes RSF fighters are among them.
73 killed in Abyei market strike
The attack on Abyei, which borders West Kordofan, took place at about 11:30 local time on Monday, Information Minister Yohana Akol Ngor told Radio Tamazuj, which broadcasts from the Netherlands to audiences along the Sudan-South Sudan border. The reported death toll was 73.
“We were surprised by bombing and thick smoke inside Amiet Common Market, which is located 10km [six miles] from Abyei town,” Ngor said.
The BBC’s verification team examined satellite images showing extensive damage from fire in the market’s north-east corner. The market is also known in Arabic as Al-Na’am Market, and older images show it is usually crowded with trucks.
The BBC also verified footage filmed near the market showing a large plume of smoke, at least one petrol tanker and a person describing five missiles being fired. Another verified video showed two large, separate fires in buildings near that part of the market.
Ngor told Reuters that emergency workers had struggled to retrieve bodies because of fires caused by the strikes.
Medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said it had received people wounded in the attack at Ameth Bek Hospital in Abyei town.
“So far we received over 20 patients, including several critical cases. Patients with burns were also admitted. We are providing surgical services and wound dressing, along with other emergency care,” said Christian Lindauer, MSF’s manager at the hospital.
Separately, a drone strike near Khartoum airport on Monday killed four people, including three children, AFP reported, citing a medical source. The agency also quoted a military source as saying Sudanese air defences had downed several other drones launched by the RSF towards the airport.
Fighting in Kordofan, a strategic area rich in gold and oil, has intensified over the past year after the army recaptured Khartoum from the RSF.
