Strikes on Nyala market in Darfur kill more than 100, rights group says

NYALA, Sudan — Military drone strikes on a busy market in Nyala, in Sudan's South Darfur region, killed more than 100 people on Monday, according to the rights group Emergency Lawyers, as reported by Al Jazeera. The figures remain unverified.

Al Jazeera, citing Emergency Lawyers, a group that tracks violence in Sudan, reported that the attacks left more than 100 people dead and 113 wounded. The group said most of the victims were women and children, according to Al Jazeera's report.

Nyala is the de facto capital of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the paramilitary group fighting Sudan's army. Al Jazeera, which compiled its report with the Associated Press (AP), said the market was frequented by RSF fighters.

Witness accounts

Al Jazeera reported that witnesses described a different mix of victims from the one given by Emergency Lawyers. On Wednesday, they said several civilian vendors who sold goods to RSF fighters were among the dead.

One cigarette vendor told the AP that hundreds of RSF fighters had gathered at the market on the evening of the attack. According to Al Jazeera's account of his testimony, he moved his stall between groups of fighters to sell cigarettes. He said a drone struck at about 8pm (18:00 GMT) and killed dozens of fighters and women who were selling food.

A second witness told the AP the explosion was very large and killed many fighters. Al Jazeera said he estimated that about 14 civilians died, including women and children. He said most of them were women selling tea and food.

Both witnesses spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because they feared retaliation, according to Al Jazeera.

Aid worker and medical accounts

Mubarak Bekheit, an aid worker in Darfur, said on Wednesday that many people were still missing, Al Jazeera reported. He said some bodies had not yet been recovered from homes in the area, because the strike hit a civilian neighbourhood.

"I personally know that war has no morality, but the reality we witness every day is that civilians are the ones paying the highest price." — Mubarak Bekheit, aid worker in Darfur

Doctors Without Borders, known as MSF, said a second strike hit a civilian neighbourhood after the market attack, according to Al Jazeera. The organisation said a hospital it supports in Nyala received 36 bodies in the hours after the strike. Twenty-one of those were wearing civilian clothing, MSF said. Its teams also saw more than 150 wounded people in the emergency room, the group said.

"Markets, homes, and key civilian infrastructure are not targets," MSF said in a statement quoted by Al Jazeera. "All parties to the conflict must protect civilians."

Differing casualty figures

Al Jazeera said casualty figures from Monday's attack are unconfirmed and could not be independently verified, because little information is coming out of the city.

The Sudan Doctors Network, another group that tracks violence, issued a preliminary statement on Wednesday, according to Al Jazeera. It reported 21 dead and more than 40 wounded. The group said shelling caused most of the deaths. It said the statement was delayed because of difficulties reaching field sources in Nyala during ongoing military operations and security constraints, as quoted by Al Jazeera.

The army-aligned side gave a separate account. Al Jazeera reported that Mohamed Didan, the official spokesperson for the Special Operations Forces fighting alongside the army, wrote on Facebook that more than "150 militia recruits" were killed. He said this happened at the Dumaya camp, west of Nyala, in what he called a "precise and targeted air strike". Al Jazeera did not say whether the Dumaya camp strike and the market attack were the same event. The report did not give any army statement about the market itself.

The figures therefore differ widely. They range from 21 dead, in the Sudan Doctors Network's preliminary count, to more than 100 dead, in Emergency Lawyers' count. MSF counted 36 bodies at one hospital. The army-aligned spokesperson claimed more than 150 fighters killed at a camp.

Background

Al Jazeera described the war between the RSF and the army as now in its fourth year. It said the conflict has caused severe poverty, food shortages and the world's worst displacement crisis. Parts of the country have been pushed into famine, according to the report.

Al Jazeera also cited the United Nations as reporting that drone strikes have become the leading cause of civilian deaths in Sudan.

The report gave figures on child malnutrition in Nyala, which is under RSF control. According to UN estimates released earlier this month, the share of children seeking treatment there for severe acute malnutrition more than doubled between January and August. It rose from 5 percent to 11 percent, Al Jazeera reported.

This report relies solely on Al Jazeera's coverage, which draws on the AP, Emergency Lawyers, the Sudan Doctors Network, MSF, an aid worker and anonymous witnesses. Zenga News has not independently confirmed any of the casualty figures or the accounts of what was targeted.