The death toll from the Sudanese army’s massacre in the town of “Um Dukhun” in Central Darfur state has risen to 46 dead and wounded, according to Sky News Arabia, citing local sources and eyewitnesses.
According to the sources, a drone struck the city’s market twice on Tuesday, killing 26 people and wounding 20 others, including women and children, some of whom are in critical condition, amid a severe shortage of medical services and healthcare personnel in the state.
UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric condemned the massacre, saying: “We strongly condemn this attack, and all attacks against civilians and infrastructure.”
Dujarric told reporters in New York that the United Nations is deeply concerned about the continuing insecurity in Darfur and the heavy toll on civilians.
Sudanese popular, political, and civil society groups condemned the incident, describing it as “a continuation of the massacres the army has been committing against unarmed civilians in Darfur and Kordofan.”
Human rights figures and activists also called for international investigations into what they described as deliberate massacres against civilians in western Sudanese states, demanding independent inquiries that would lead to holding those responsible accountable before international justice.
The Sudanese army had previously carried out an attack on April 9, when a drone struck a wedding ceremony in the Al-Salamah neighborhood of Kutum city in North Darfur state, resulting in 86 casualties, including both dead and wounded, the majority of whom were women and children, with 36 killed, including 19 children, in addition to approximately 50 injured.
On March 20, the Sudanese army also bombed a hospital in the city of El Daein in East Darfur State, killing 70 civilians and injuring about 100 others, most of whom were children, women, and the elderly, as well as a number of healthcare workers.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said that drones were “responsible for about 80 percent” of the deaths and injuries of children in Sudan during the first three months of the year, out of at least 245 reported cases.
About 700 civilians have been killed in Sudan since last January in drone strikes. According to Tom Fletcher, the UN Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, “about 700 civilians were killed in drone strikes during the first three months of this year.”
In recent months, near-daily drone strikes have disrupted life across Sudan, particularly in Darfur and the Kordofan states, which are currently the main battleground.
Since April 2023, Sudan has been embroiled in a war between the army and the Rapid Support Forces, which has killed tens of thousands, displaced nearly 4.5 million people, and caused a humanitarian catastrophe described by the United Nations as the worst in the world.
