Sudan War: 114 Killed in Darfur, Kordofan Attacks as Army, RSF Intensify Drone Strikes

Sudan War: 114 Killed in Darfur, Kordofan Attacks as Army, RSF Intensify Drone Strikes

At least 114 people have been killed in renewed violence across Sudan’s Darfur and Kordofan regions, following a series of army and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) attacks over the past week, medical sources told AFP on Sunday.

Sudan has been engulfed in a devastating civil war since April 2023, pitting the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) against the paramilitary RSF, a conflict that has left tens of thousands dead and displaced millions.

Medical officials said 51 civilians were killed on Saturday in drone strikes attributed to the Sudanese army on the North Darfur town of Al-Zuruq, an RSF-controlled area located about 180 kilometres north of El-Fashir, the state capital seized by the RSF in October.

According to the source, the strikes hit a market and surrounding civilian neighbourhoods, killing residents and members of the family of RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti. Two relatives, Moussa Saleh Dagalo and Awad Moussa Saleh Dagalo, were confirmed dead by eyewitnesses.

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In a separate incident, RSF fighters advancing toward the Chadian border reportedly killed 63 people in and around the town of Kernoi in West Darfur, according to medical staff at the local hospital. At least 57 others were injured, while 17 people remain missing, local sources said.

Both the Sudanese army and the RSF have been repeatedly accused of targeting civilian areas, with the United Nations describing the conflict as a “war of atrocities.”

The fighting has also intensified in Kordofan, Sudan’s vast oil-rich region linking Darfur to the capital Khartoum, which the army retook last year. On Sunday, drone attacks on the North Kordofan capital of El-Obeid caused a widespread power blackout, Sudan’s national electricity company confirmed.

“El-Obeid power station was attacked by drones, leading to a fire in the machinery building and a halt in electricity supply,” the company said.

The Darfur region, largely cut off by a prolonged communications blackout, remains inaccessible to journalists, forcing local medics and volunteers to rely on satellite internet to relay information.

According to the United Nations, more than 7,000 people were displaced in just two days last month from Kernoi and nearby Um Baru, many of them from the Zaghawa ethnic group, which has been specifically targeted by the RSF. Zaghawa fighters are part of the Joint Forces, allied with the army.

Since the war began, more than 11 million people have been displaced inside Sudan and across its borders, fleeing violence, hunger, and the collapse of basic services. The UN warns that hundreds of thousands face mass starvation, particularly in Darfur and Kordofan, as the conflict shows no sign of abating.

Sudan War: 114 Killed in Darfur, Kordofan Attacks as Army, RSF Intensify Drone Strikes

ARAB NEWS