A report issued by the Organization for Social Change confirmed that the Sudanese army carried out a number of repeated air raids on neighborhoods in the city of Al-Kuma in North Darfur, the latest of which targeted army marches in Al-Kuma market last July, resulting in a number of casualties and committing grave violations amounting to war crimes against civilians.
Eyewitnesses told Raino that the army used chemical weapons in the bombing of Al-Kuma, as evidenced by changes in the smell and color of drinking water.
A medical source at Al-Kuma Hospital reported an increase in miscarriages among pregnant women to 150 cases last month and swelling in the bodies of some citizens.
The Sudanese army’s bombing of civilians in Al-Kuma resulted in more than 500 deaths, hundreds of injuries, and widespread destruction of infrastructure, constituting a serious violation of international humanitarian law. Witnesses considered the army’s airstrikes to be full-fledged war crimes.
Witnesses reported the killing and injury of hundreds of civilians, including women and children, and significant damage to civilian homes, schools, health facilities, and markets, disrupting daily life and creating a humanitarian crisis.
The organization confirmed that these attacks targeted civilians and that the city was free of any military presence. The city of Al-Kuma has only two centers, one for the police and the other for the security apparatus.
There are no military camps of any kind, which is a violation of international laws and norms that prohibit targeting civilians, the latest of which was the targeting of World Food Program (WFP) trucks by a Sudanese army convoy.
The Coordination for Social Change called for independent and transparent investigations into these tragic events and for those responsible for these attacks to be held accountable.
This is the 133rd air strike carried out by the army on the city of Al-Kuma, which is populated only by unarmed civilians. Each time, the bombing leaves children, women, and the elderly dead, exacerbating the internal displacement crisis in Al-Kuma.
Al-Kuma is one of the main cities in North Darfur, an area that has long suffered from aerial bombardment since the start of the war on April 15.
The latest bombing, carried out by the Sudanese army in a systematic and racist manner, has led to a deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the city, where access to basic services such as water, food, and primary health care has become extremely difficult.
Eyewitnesses said that residents, especially children and women, are living in a state of fear and panic due to the continued flights of the Sudanese army’s military drones.
