Sudan: Drone strike kills 21, injures more than 40

A drone strike that occurred in the evening against a market in Nyala, a stronghold of the Sudanese paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in west Darfur, left 21 dead and 40 injured, a medical source and witnesses reported to AFP on Tuesday.

In Nyala, “21 people were killed in the bombing and more than 40 others were injured,” said a member of the medical staff at the local hospital, although unable to determine how many of the victims were RSF fighters, accustomed to frequenting this market according to a witness. Another witness said the attack took place around 8:00 p.m. (6:00 p.m. GMT).

Massive power cuts in the east of the country

Early Tuesday, a source at the national electricity company also reported an attack by drones launched by the RSF against a power plant in the capital Khartoum, without specifying possible victims. “RFS drones targeted the Al-Markhiyat transformer station, disrupting electricity supplies in a large part of Khartoum and Al-Jazeera states,” the source told AFP.

These attacks come a day after a coordinated RSF operation, already against six power plants, which caused massive power cuts in four states in eastern Sudan. Since April 2023, Sudan has been torn apart by a war between the RSF and the regular army, which controls the center, north and east of the country. The Sudanese army regularly carries out strikes on Nyala, where the RSF have established an authority rivaling that of the internationally recognized government, based in Khartoum.

More than 300 deaths since the beginning of October

The United Nations has also repeatedly warned that attacks on power plants threaten access to essential services for millions of people. Nearly three million people have returned to Khartoum state since it was retaken by the army last year, but many are struggling to rebuild their lives in a city scarred by the scars of conflict.

Electricity and water supplies remain uncertain, much of the capital remains dangerous due to the presence of unexploded bombs, and many struggle to feed themselves in a collapsed economy. The conflict in Sudan is now fought mainly through drones, thanks to which both sides can operate throughout the country, far from the front lines, each time causing the deaths of dozens of civilians.

In the first three weeks of October alone, drone strikes left more than 300 people dead and hundreds injured, according to a United Nations tally. Since the start of the conflict, the war has killed more than 200,000 people, according to estimates by humanitarian workers, and has caused the most serious crises of famine and population displacement in the world.