A drone strike near a market in the town of al-Dibab in West Kordofan state killed 80 people on Sunday evening, according to witnesses and medical sources. The attack targeted a transport hub where civilians were gathering to catch rides home after the market day ended.
Witness accounts from al-Dibab
Ahmed Wadi, a witness in the area, used a satellite internet connection to bypass a communications blackout and described the scene. He said the drone struck twice, with the second attack occurring 10 minutes after the first. “50 bodies who I helped bury, one of them my own brother Mohamed,” Wadi said.
Wadi reported that 47 other people were transported to the nearby town of al-Mujlad for medical care. A medical source, who requested anonymity for safety reasons, confirmed the total death toll. “A total of 80 people were killed in the drone strike on al-Dibab,” the medic said. The source also noted that four additional people were injured in a separate strike on al-Mujlad and are currently being treated.
Escalating drone warfare in Sudan
The attack in al-Dibab is one of the deadliest single incidents since the war began in April 2023. The conflict erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), led by Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), commanded by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. West Kordofan state is currently under RSF control.
The RSF-declared administration, known as Tasis, accused the army of carrying out the Sunday strike. Sudan has seen a significant rise in the use of drones throughout the war. Between January and April, drone strikes accounted for at least 880 civilian deaths, representing more than 80% of all conflict-related civilian deaths in the country during that period.
Violence involving drones has continued to escalate. Last Friday, strikes hit a busy livestock market in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur state. The SAF stated that the attacks killed RSF fighters, but the RSF accused the military of killing 30 civilians.
Humanitarian crisis deepens
The fighting in Sudan has killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced many more. The conflict has been fueled by foreign powers with vested interests who are supporting the warring sides. Rosemary DiCarlo, the undersecretary-general for political and peacebuilding affairs at the UN, warned the security council last week that the crisis is deteriorating with no breakthrough in sight.
“They [the warring parties] are not moving closer to dialogue,” DiCarlo said. “On the contrary, they seem to believe that they can make greater gains on the battlefield and that continued external support will allow them to pursue their objectives by force.”
Source: The Guardian
