Over 100 killed, 113 injured in drone strike on Sudan market

Tanqong Market was struck by a drone on Monday evening while civilians were shopping and eating breakfast. Rights groups and local officials reported more than 100 deaths and 113 injuries. The attack happened in the Dumaya neighbourhood of Nyala, a city in South Darfur.

Nyala matters because it is controlled by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, while the Sudanese military was blamed for the strike. Emergency Lawyers called for an independent investigation. The alleged use of drones shows how Sudan’s war is reaching crowded civilian places.

Reports from the scene produced different totals. Doctors Without Borders said 36 bodies reached its hospital and that 150 injured people were treated there. The attack adds to growing concern over drone strikes against markets, hospitals, schools and displacement camps across Sudan.

An explosive-laden drone is an unmanned aircraft fitted with explosives. It can be directed toward a chosen location and detonated when it reaches the target or its vicinity. Unlike a surveillance drone, its main purpose is to deliver destructive force.

In a military strike, operators may guide the drone remotely toward buildings, vehicles, groups of people or other sites. The explosive payload can cause blast injuries, deaths and damage over a wide area. Accuracy, target information and the timing of the explosion affect the result, but crowded places remain especially dangerous.

The article reports that both the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF are using explosive-laden drones. Their attacks have increasingly threatened civilians and damaged hospitals, schools, markets and displacement camps. The United Nations calls drone strikes the deadliest threat to civilians in Sudan’s conflict.

The reported casualty figures are severe but not identical. Emergency Lawyers reported more than 100 people killed and 113 injured. An RSF-aligned health minister gave a figure of 102 civilians killed and 113 injured. Doctors Without Borders reported receiving 36 bodies and treating 150 injured people at its hospital.

These accounts measure different parts of the disaster. One group may count deaths documented at the scene, while a hospital counts bodies brought to its facility and patients it treats. Early reports can also change as rescuers reach victims, hospitals compare records and families identify the dead. The figures may therefore overlap without matching.

The differences do not reduce the seriousness of the attack. Every account describes a mass-casualty event at a crowded market. The conflicting totals are one reason Emergency Lawyers called for an independent investigation and careful documentation of what happened.

Sudan’s war is being fought between the Sudanese Armed Forces, or SAF, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF. Nyala is controlled by the RSF, and the strike occurred in that city. The RSF and an aligned administration provided some of the casualty information.

Emergency Lawyers blamed the Sudanese military and demanded an independent investigation. Adam Musa Obama said eyewitnesses reported that drones associated with the army struck the market. That reported connection is the basis for the accusation described in the article. The article does not say that an independent investigation has confirmed responsibility.

Attribution matters because both sides use explosive-laden drones and both have been linked to attacks on civilian infrastructure. Establishing who launched a strike helps determine responsibility and supports possible accountability. Until an investigation is completed, the military’s role remains a reported allegation in this account.

Crowded markets place many civilians close together, so an explosive strike can produce large numbers of deaths and injuries in seconds. Victims may suffer blast wounds, burns and other trauma. Families, rescuers and medical workers must then manage a sudden emergency in a place not designed for mass casualties.

The Nyala attack shows this pressure clearly. Doctors Without Borders said 36 bodies arrived at its hospital and that its emergency room treated 150 injured people. The RSF-aligned health minister said hospitals and health centres were placed on alert, while a medical team was sent to the scene immediately.

The wider danger is continuing disruption to civilian life and essential services. The article reports attacks on hospitals, schools, markets and displacement camps. As both sides use explosive-laden drones, medical facilities may face repeated surges of patients while already operating during a war that has displaced millions.

Sudan’s current war began in April 2023, when fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces erupted in Khartoum. Khartoum is identified in the article as the starting point of the conflict. The fighting did not remain confined to the capital.

The conflict spread across Sudan, including Darfur, where Nyala is located. The article describes Nyala as controlled by the RSF and reports a deadly strike there. It does not provide a detailed explanation of the military, political or territorial reasons that caused the war to expand.

The consequences have become national and humanitarian. Tens of thousands of people have been killed, millions displaced and about 34 million left needing assistance. The United Nations describes the situation as the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. Continued drone attacks on civilian sites show how the conflict still threatens people far from Khartoum.

International humanitarian law protects civilians during armed conflict. Its core rules require parties to distinguish between military targets and civilians, avoid attacks expected to cause excessive civilian harm, and take feasible precautions. Civilian objects, such as markets, are generally protected unless they are being used for military action.

A crowded market is a civilian place where people shop, eat and work. An attack there could violate the rules if it deliberately targeted civilians, treated the market as a military target without adequate basis, or caused disproportionate expected harm. The legality depends on facts such as the intended target, available information and precautions taken.

The article reports that witnesses saw civilians shopping and eating breakfast when drones struck Tanqong Market. It also says Emergency Lawyers called for an independent investigation. Those facts raise serious protection concerns, but the article does not establish the attackers’ intent or provide a final legal finding.