Drone strike in Sudan’s Nyala kills at least 21, injures 40

Drone hit a market in the city that serves as the de facto capital of the paramilitary RSF in Darfur, resident says.

The war has killed more than 200,000 people and caused the world's largest hunger and displacement crises [File: Zohra Bensemra/Reuters]

A drone strike in Nyala, in Sudan’s Darfur region, has killed at least 21 people and injured 40 others, the AFP news agency reported, citing a medical source and witnesses.

A Nyala resident said the attack took place at about 8pm (18:00 GMT) on Monday at a market in the north of the city, which serves as the de facto capital of Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

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“Twenty-one people were killed in last night’s bombing, and more than 40 others injured,” a medic at Nyala Hospital said on Tuesday.

Another Nyala resident told AFP that the market was frequented by armed men, particularly RSF fighters.

The Sudanese military, which has been at war with the RSF since April 2023, regularly strikes Nyala, where the RSF has declared an administration rivalling the military-backed, internationally recognised government in Khartoum.

The attack comes as the warring sides are increasingly turning to drone warfare .

Earlier this month, the RSF launched strikes targeting Khartoum’s airport, as well as dams and power stations in the government-controlled east.

An RSF drone attack on Tuesday “targeted the al-Markhiyat transformer station, disrupting power supplies for millions across large parts of Khartoum and Gezira state”, a national electricity company told AFP on condition of anonymity.

It followed Monday’s coordinated RSF drone strikes on six power stations, which cut off electricity to millions in the states of Gezira, White Nile, Sennar and Gadarif.

A government drone attack in a disputed border region between Sudan and South Sudan earlier this month killed more than 150 people .

The war began in 2023 when a dispute over how to integrate the two forces erupted into clashes in the capital, Khartoum. The fighting has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced more than 13 million, and created the world’s largest hunger and displacement crises.

On Monday, the United States, the European Union and 30 other countries warned of an “ alarming deterioration ” in food access in Sudan and called for “urgent action” to prevent famine.

In a joint statement released by the US State Department on Monday, the signatories called on the groups fighting Sudan’s civil war “to lift all impediments on humanitarian assistance”.

据当地居民称，一架无人机袭击了达尔富尔准军事组织快速支援部队（RSF）事实上的首都所在的城市的一个市场。

这场战争已造成超过20万人死亡，并引发了世界上最严重的饥饿和流离失所危机。[图片：Zohra Bensemra/路透社]

据法新社援引医疗消息人士和目击者的话报道，苏丹达尔富尔地区尼亚拉发生无人机袭击，造成至少 21 人死亡，40 人受伤。

尼亚拉市一名居民称，袭击发生在周一晚上 8 点左右（格林尼治标准时间 18:00），地点位于该市北部的一个市场。尼亚拉是苏丹准军事快速支援部队 (RSF) 的实际首都。

英国制裁苏丹指挥官，指控其使用强奸武器（共4条，第1条）

列表 2/4：苏丹-南苏丹争议边境地区发生无人机袭击，造成至少 153 人死亡

列表 3/4：苏丹转向无人机战争如何加剧平民危机

美国、欧盟和30个国家警告苏丹存在饥荒风险，呼吁提供援助（名单共4份，此为第4份）。

尼亚拉医院的一名医护人员周二表示：“昨晚的爆炸事件造成 21 人死亡，另有 40 多人受伤。”

另一位尼亚拉居民告诉法新社，武装人员经常出入该市场，特别是快速支援部队的战士。

自 2023 年 4 月以来一直与快速支援部队交战的苏丹军队经常袭击尼亚拉，而快速支援部队已在尼亚拉宣布成立一个与喀土穆军方支持的、国际公认的政府相抗衡的政权。

此次袭击发生之际，交战双方正越来越多地转向无人机战争。

本月初，快速支援部队对喀土穆机场以及政府控制的东部地区的水坝和发电站发动了袭击。

一家国家电力公司匿名告诉法新社，周二，快速支援部队的无人机袭击“目标是马尔希亚特变电站，导致喀土穆和杰济拉州大部分​​地区数百万人的电力供应中断”。

此前，快速支援部队周一协调无人机袭击了六个发电站，导致杰济拉州、白尼罗州、森纳尔州和加达里夫州数百万人断电。

本月初，苏丹和南苏丹之间有争议的边境地区发生政府无人机袭击事件，造成 150 多人死亡。

这场战争始于2023年，当时双方就如何整合两支军队的争议在首都喀土穆爆发冲突。冲突已造成数万人死亡，超过1300万人流离失所，并引发了世界上最严重的饥饿和流离失所危机。

周一，美国、欧盟和其他 30 个国家警告称，苏丹的粮食供应状况“急剧恶化”，并呼吁采取“紧急行动”防止饥荒。

美国国务院周一发表联合声明，签署国呼吁苏丹内战各方“解除对人道主义援助的一切障碍”。