Drone strike on Sudan's Nyala livestock market kills 30, medical source says
A drone strike on a busy livestock market in Nyala, in Sudan's Darfur region, killed 30 people on Friday, a hospital source said, according to AFP and Radio Tamazuj. The Rapid Support Forces, the armed group that holds the city, blamed Sudan's army. The army said it hit fighters in Nyala but did not address civilian deaths.
A drone strike on a livestock market in Nyala, the capital of Sudan's South Darfur state, killed 30 people and wounded 47 on Friday, a medical source at Nyala Hospital said, according to AFP and Radio Tamazuj. AFP called it one of the deadliest attacks on the city, a stronghold of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
"The drone strike on the city's cattle market today killed 30 people and wounded 47 others, who are receiving treatment at the hospital," the medical source said, according to AFP. The source did not say who carried out the strike, AFP and Radio Tamazuj reported. AFP reported that the market was hit on Friday morning, when traders and shoppers usually crowd the area.
The RSF blamed the Sudanese army and said the attack used a Turkish-made drone, AFP reported. The group said preliminary reports showed 17 women and five children were among the dead, AFP reported. A political alliance allied with the RSF, known as Tasis, said at least 30 people were killed and 43 wounded and accused the army of launching the drone from an Egyptian base, Radio Tamazuj reported. Neither outlet independently confirmed who carried out the strike.
The army said its air force carried out targeted strikes on RSF command centers, positions and fighters in Nyala and killed dozens of fighters, but it did not address the reported civilian deaths, Radio Tamazuj reported. A military source said the army had stepped up strikes on RSF positions in Nyala on Friday and that all of its attacks were aimed at military targets, AFP reported.
Radio Tamazuj reported that videos it reviewed showed damaged buildings and people pulling bodies from the rubble. The Emergency Lawyers Group, a Sudanese rights group, condemned the strike and called for an independent investigation, the outlet reported.
Sudan's army and the RSF have been at war since April 2023. More than 1,100 people were killed in drone attacks across Sudan in the first half of this year, according to the United Nations, AFP reported.
What we know: A drone strike killed 30 people at a Nyala market on Friday, a hospital source said, and the RSF blames the army.
What we don't: Who carried out the strike, and whether the death toll will rise.
Where outlets agree AFP and Radio Tamazuj both report that a drone strike on a livestock market in Nyala killed 30 people on Friday, citing a medical source.
Where they differ The outlets cited here report the same key facts so far.