Strike on market in Sudan’s Kordofan region kills at least 28 people, rights group says

CAIRO (AP) — Strikes on a market in central Sudan ‘s Kordofan region killed at least 28 people and wounded dozens, said a rights group on Monday, as the war between the army and a paramilitary group nears its three-year mark.

Emergency Lawyers, a rights group tracking violence against civilians, said in a statement that drones bombed a market in Sudri locality in North Kordofan province on Sunday, during a time the market was bustling with civilians, “exacerbating the humanitarian tragedy.” The group said the number of casualties was likely to rise.

“The repeated use of drones to target populated areas shows a grave disregard for civilian lives and signals an escalation that threatens what remains of daily life in the province. Therefore, we demand an immediate halt to drone attacks by both sides of the conflict,” the statement said.

Emergency Lawyers said on X that drones belonging to the army targeted the market on Sunday. However, two military officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to brief the media, told The Associated Press that the army doesn’t target civilian infrastructure and denied the attack.

Over a week ago, a drone close to the city of Rahad in North Kordofan hit a vehicle carrying displaced families, killing at least 24 people, including eight children. A day before that attack, a World Food Program aid convoy was targeted.

The fighting between the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese military erupted into a full-blown war across the country in April 2023. So far, at least 40,000 people have been killed and 12 million displaced, according to the World Health Organization. Aid groups say the true war death toll could be many times higher, as the fighting in vast and remote areas impedes access.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said recently the Kordofan region remains “volatile and a focus of hostilities” as the warring parties vie for control of strategic areas.

Both warring parties have been accused of atrocities.

The U.N. Human Rights Office issued a report on Friday saying that more than 6,000 people were killed in over three days when the RSF unleashed “a wave of intense violence … shocking in its scale and brutality” in Sudan’s Darfur region in late October.

The RSF’s offensive to capture the city of el-Fasher, that used to be a military stronghold, in late October included widespread atrocities that amounted to war crimes and possible crimes against humanity, according to the U.N.