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At least 10 people were killed after a drone strike hit a crowded market in Sudan’s North Darfur state over the weekend, according to local first responders, who did not say who carried out the attack.
The incident comes during intensifying fighting in other parts of the country, prompting the evacuation of aid workers on Sunday from Kadugli, a besieged city in the south that has been severely affected by famine.
Sudan has been engulfed in conflict since April 2023, when fighting broke out between the national army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
The war has claimed tens of thousands of lives, displaced nearly 12 million people and triggered what the United Nations describes as the world’s largest displacement and hunger crisis.
The North Darfur Emergency Rooms Council, part of a network of volunteer groups coordinating relief efforts across Sudan, said the drone attack struck Al-Harra market in the RSF-controlled town of Malha on Saturday.
The group reported that the strike sparked fires in shops and caused extensive property damage but did not identify those responsible. Neither the army nor the RSF immediately commented on the incident.
Fighting has increasingly centred on South Kordofan, where clashes have escalated in and around Kadugli, the state capital. A drone attack there last week killed eight people as they attempted to flee the army-held city.
A humanitarian worker operating in Kadugli told AFP on Sunday that all aid staff had been evacuated due to the deteriorating security situation.
The withdrawal followed a decision by the United Nations to relocate its logistics hub away from Kadugli, although the destination of the relocated staff was not disclosed.
Kadugli and the nearby town of Dilling have been under siege by paramilitary forces since the war began.
Last week, the RSF announced it had taken control of the Brno area, a key defensive position on the road linking Kadugli to Dilling.
After forcing the army out of El-Fasher in October, its last stronghold in Darfur, the RSF has redirected its efforts towards the resource-rich Kordofan region, a strategic link between army-held areas in the north and east and RSF-controlled Darfur in the west.
With communications cut in the area, the United Nations declared a famine in Kadugli last month.
Residents have reportedly been forced to search for food in nearby forests, according to accounts gathered by AFP.
The conflict has effectively split Sudan, with the army holding the north, east and centre of the country, while the RSF controls all five Darfur state capitals and, together with allied groups, parts of the south.
