Good Day Readers. Today a news has come from Sudan stating that a drone attack struck an open market located in the southern part of Sudan’s capital, Khartoum. Stay with this article to find out more about this news. In an incident that unfolded on Sunday (local time), a drone strike targeted an open market situated to the south of Sudan’s capital, Khartoum. This tragic event claimed the lives of at least 43 individuals, as reported by activists and a medical organization. The attack occurred in Khartoum’s May neighborhood, an area with a significant presence of paramilitary forces engaged in a fierce struggle for control against the military. The Sudan Doctors’ Union conveyed that more than 55 people sustained injuries in the attack, and these casualties were transported to Bashair University Hospital. The Resistance Committees, an activist group that plays a role in coordinating humanitarian aid, shared video footage on social media depicting bodies covered in white sheets placed in an open area at the hospital.
Sudan has been grappling with turmoil since mid-April, when confrontations between the nation’s military, headed by General Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, escalated into open hostilities. The RSF attributed Sunday’s attack to the military’s air force, although independent verification of this claim was not immediately feasible. Conversely, the military, in a statement on Sunday afternoon, asserted that it had not intentionally targeted civilians and characterized the RSF’s allegations as “false and deceptive.” Sudan’s ongoing conflict has unfortunately witnessed instances of indiscriminate shelling and airstrikes by both warring factions, transforming the Greater Khartoum area into a contested zone.
Sudan’s Attacked By Drone in an Open Market
This conflict has further expanded to various regions of the country. In the Greater Khartoum area, encompassing Khartoum, Omdurman, and Bahri, RSF forces have reportedly taken over civilian residences, repurposing them as operational bases. In response, there have been reports of military bombings in these residential areas, as documented by human rights groups and activists In the western Darfur region, previously marked by genocidal campaigns in the early 2000s, the conflict has taken on an ethnic dimension, with the RSF and allied Arab militias clashing with ethnic African groups. These troubling developments have been reported by both rights groups and the United Nations (UN).
Over the weekend, fierce confrontations erupted in al-Fasher, the provincial capital of North Darfur, following an RSF attack on a military facility, as reported by local media. Clementine Nkweta-Salami, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator in Sudan, expressed deep concerns on Sunday regarding the clashes in al-Fasher. Via a post on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, the UN official called for an immediate cessation of hostilities by the warring factions, emphasizing the urgent need for humanitarian aid delivery, including food, medicine, and shelter, to those most in need.
According to UN figures from August, the conflict has resulted in the tragic loss of over 4,000 lives. However, doctors and activists strongly believe that the actual toll is significantly higher. The number of internally displaced individuals has surged, nearly doubling since mid-April, reaching a staggering 7.1 million people, as reported by the UN refugee agency. Additionally, there are approximately 1.1 million refugees seeking shelter in neighboring countries, according to data released by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) last week. Chad, in particular, has received around 465,000 refugees, primarily from West Darfur province. This region witnessed devastating attacks by the RSF and its affiliated Arab militias, resulting in widespread destruction among non-Arab tribes in the provincial capital of Geneina and its surrounding areas, as documented by the UN and various human rights organizations.
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