Sudan drone attack on Darfur market kills 10 people, rescuers say

A drone attack on a busy market in Sudan's North Darfur state killed 10 people over the weekend, first responders said, without saying who was responsible.

The attack comes as fighting intensified elsewhere in the country, leading aid workers to be evacuated on Sunday from Kadugli, a besieged, famine-hit city in the south.

Since April 2023, Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been locked in a conflict, which has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced nearly 12 million and created the world's largest displacement and hunger crisis.

The North Darfur Emergency Rooms Council, one of hundreds of volunteer groups coordinating aid across Sudan, said a drone strike hit Al Harra market in the RSF-controlled town of Malha on Saturday.

Drone attack sparks fire

The council did not identify who carried out the attack, which it said had sparked "fire in shops and caused extensive material damage."

There was no immediate comment from either the Sudanese army or the RSF.

The war's current epicentre is South Kordofan and clashes have escalated in Kadugli, the state capital, where a drone attack last week killed eight people as they attempted to flee the army-controlled city.

A source from a humanitarian organisation operating in Kadugli told AFP on Sunday that humanitarian groups had "evacuated all their workers" from the city due to security conditions.

Besieged by paramilitary forces

The evacuation followed the United Nations' decision to relocate its logistics hub from Kadugli, the source said on condition of anonymity, without specifying where the staff had gone.

Kadugli and nearby Dilling have been besieged by paramilitary forces since the war erupted.

Last week, the RSF claimed control of the Brno area, a key defensive line on the road connecting Kadugli to Dilling.

After capturing the western city of Al Fasher – its last stronghold in the Darfur region – the RSF has shifted its focus to resource-rich Kordofan, a strategic crossroads linking army-held northern and eastern territories with RSF-held Darfur in the west.

Famine

Communications in the area have been cut, and the United Nations declared a famine in Kadugli last month.

Residents have been forced to forage for food in nearby forests, according to accounts gathered by AFP.

The conflict has effectively split Sudan in two: the army controls the north, east and centre while the RSF dominates all five state capitals in Darfur and, with its allies, parts of the south.