Rhino: Follow-up – Early this morning, an army drone bombed a gathering of displaced civilians in the Southern Badia region of Blue Nile State, resulting, according to preliminary reports, in dozens of deaths and injuries, most of them women and children, as reported by the Emergency Lawyers Group in a statement today.

The victims had fled the ongoing clashes between the army and the Rapid Support Forces, which have caused thousands of civilians to be displaced from their areas, depriving them of shelter, grazing lands, and sources of livelihood, amid an almost complete absence of humanitarian aid and emergency relief.

The Emergency Lawyers Group condemned this attack in the strongest terms and affirmed that targeting civilians and displaced persons—who enjoy special protection under international humanitarian law—constitutes a grave violation of the rules protecting civilians and may amount to a war crime if it is proven that the attack was intentionally directed against civilians or carried out in a random and indiscriminate manner.

The human rights group called for an immediate halt to attacks targeting civilians; the opening of an independent and transparent investigation into this crime; holding those responsible to account; ensuring urgent and safe access to humanitarian aid for displaced persons and those affected; and securing humanitarian corridors to guarantee their protection.