Drone strike kills 30 at cattle market in Sudan's Nyala, medics say

A drone strike on a cattle market in Nyala, capital of South Darfur state, killed 30 people and wounded 47 on Friday, a medical source at Nyala Hospital said — one of the deadliest attacks on the paramilitary-held city since Sudan’s war began.

“The drone strike on the city’s cattle market today killed 30 people and wounded 47 others, who are receiving treatment at the hospital,” the medical source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The source did not say who was responsible.

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which controls Nyala, blamed the attack on the Sudanese army. A military source acknowledged an uptick in strikes on the area but did not claim responsibility.

The RSF said the army used a Turkish-made drone and that 17 women and five children were among the dead, in an attack that hit the market at its busiest, when merchants, shoppers and roadside food stalls crowded the area.

Nyala, Sudan’s second-largest city, serves as the seat of the self-declared administration the RSF established last year. The RSF and the Sudanese army, at war since April 2023, have increasingly used drones to launch long-range strikes.

The United Nations has called Sudan one of the world’s most serious humanitarian crises, with UN figures recording more than 1,100 people killed in drone attacks across the country in the first half of this year alone.

Sources: Dawn/AFP · Vietnam News Agency · L’Orient Today