A monitoring group has reported hundreds of deaths following an alleged airstrike by the Sudanese military on a market in Darfur. Activists claim this incident marks one of the deadliest attacks since the civil war began, raising serious humanitarian concerns amidst a growing crisis in the region.
Mass Casualties Reported in Alleged Sudan Military Airstrike on Darfur Market
Mass Casualties Reported in Alleged Sudan Military Airstrike on Darfur Market
The Sudanese military faces grave accusations of a devastating airstrike in Darfur, resulting in hundreds of casualties as conflict escalates.
A Sudanese war monitoring organization, the Emergency Lawyers group, has accused the Sudanese military of carrying out a horrific airstrike on the Tur'rah market located in the country's western Darfur region. The group claims that this tragic incident resulted in the deaths of hundreds, with many more sustaining injuries. Graphic footage circulated on social media, purportedly by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF)—a paramilitary group that holds a significant portion of Darfur—depicted the destruction of market stalls and severely burned bodies.
In response, a military spokesperson refuted the allegations, asserting that the airstrike targeted only legitimate military objectives and not civilians. Both the Sudanese military and the RSF have faced multiple accusations of shelling civilian residences.
The RSF is known to utilize drone technology in their operations, while the army boasts an aerial capability that they frequently deploy against RSF strongholds throughout the region. Although reports indicate that this airstrike was among the deadliest since the outbreak of civil war in April 2023, the exact death toll and timing remain unverified by independent sources, including BBC reporters.
One activist group, the Darfur Initiative for Justice and Peace, attributed the bombing to Monday and described it as the "deadliest single bombing since the beginning of the war." The humanitarian situation in Sudan has drastically deteriorated over recent months; with nearly 12 million Sudanese people displaced from their homes, that's comparable to the entirety of Belgium or Tunisia's populations.
Food scarcity is rampant, and the UN reports over half of the Sudanese population faces acute food insecurity. The ongoing conflict has taken a staggering toll, with death estimates suggesting at least 150,000 lives lost. The RSF has consistently rejected claims regarding genocide and other violent offenses, including the systemic killing of civilians and the targeted rape of non-Arab women as part of an ethnic cleansing agenda.
As the humanitarian crisis in Sudan deepens, international observers label it the worst of its kind worldwide, calling for urgent intervention and relief efforts to assist the affected populace.
