Military drone strikes targeting a busy city market in southwestern Sudan's Darfur region have reportedly resulted in the deaths of more than 100 people, predominantly women and children. According to the Emergency Lawyers rights group, Monday's devastating attacks also left 113 individuals wounded, deepening the humanitarian toll of the protracted conflict.

The strikes took place in Nyala, a city serving as the de facto capital for the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). While military-aligned sources claimed the operation was a precise air strike against militia recruits, eyewitnesses reported that scores of civilian vendors and tea-sellers operating around the paramilitary gatherings were caught in the massive explosion. The exact casualty figures remain unconfirmed and difficult to verify independently due to severe security restrictions and ongoing active hostilities.

Humanitarian organizations, including Doctors Without Borders (MSF), strongly condemned the bombardment, noting that a secondary strike hit a nearby residential neighborhood. MSF field teams reported receiving dozens of bodies and treating over 150 wounded patients in local emergency rooms, emphasizing that markets, homes, and civilian infrastructure must never be treated as military targets.

The United Nations has reported that drone strikes have rapidly become the primary driver of civilian fatalities in Sudan's ruinous war, which has plunged millions into severe poverty and displacement. In areas like Nyala, child malnutrition rates have surged drastically, highlighting the catastrophic socioeconomic and humanitarian consequences unfolding across the country.

Source: www.aljazeera.com