Rhino: Agencies – The death toll from the Sudanese army’s bombing of civilians in the Hamra al-Sheikh district of North Kordofan state in western Sudan has risen to 16 dead and dozens wounded, according to local, medical, and human rights sources who spoke to “Sky News Arabia.”
The sources stated that a Sudanese army drone struck the Abu Zaima market in the Hamra al-Sheikh district on Saturday morning, killing 11 civilians instantly and wounding dozens with varying injuries.
The attack comes less than a day after similar strikes targeted villages and civilian vehicles in the same area, as part of an ongoing escalation of attacks targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure.
On Friday, drones targeted the villages of Al-Khashkashah and Al-Bukariyat in the Hamra al-Sheikh district, killing two people instantly and critically wounding five others, one of whom later died from his injuries.
In the same area, another attack targeted a vehicle transporting civilians, killing two people and injuring a third.
This brings the total death toll from Sudanese army attacks on civilians in the district to 16, with dozens wounded.
The attack sparked widespread condemnation from Sudanese human rights organizations and political and civil society groups, which viewed the targeting of markets and civilian gatherings as a dangerous escalation in the country’s ongoing war.
In a statement, the group “Emergency Lawyers” condemned the army’s attacks against civilians, asserting that they “are not isolated incidents, but rather an extension of a continuous pattern of direct targeting of civilian objects, constituting a grave violation of the rules of international humanitarian law.”
The group stated that “the continued loss of civilian lives in this manner cannot be treated as business as usual; rather, it represents a dangerous escalation that requires an end to these attacks and accountability for those responsible.”
The attack on Hamra al-Sheikh follows a series of similar strikes in the states of Darfur and Kordofan over the past few months. On May 20, army drones targeted a market in the city of Ghibish in West Kordofan state, killing and wounding 77 people in one of the deadliest attacks on civilians in recent months.
On May 10, 15 civilians were killed and 9 were injured when a drone struck a commercial vehicle on a road connecting South and West Kordofan states.
On April 9, the city of Kutum in North Darfur State was hit by a drone strike that targeted a wedding ceremony in the Al-Salamah neighborhood, resulting in 86 casualties, including women and children, according to local sources.
Last March, a strike targeting a hospital in the city of El Daein in East Darfur State killed 70 civilians and injured about 100 others, according to local and UN reports.
According to updated data released by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, at least 880 people were killed between January and April of this year as a result of drone attacks. Since April 2023, Sudan has been embroiled in a bloody war between the Sudanese Army and the Rapid Support Forces, leaving tens of thousands dead and millions displaced and refugees, amid a humanitarian crisis described by the United Nations as the worst in the world.
