A Sudanese war monitor accused the army on Tuesday of killing hundreds of people in an air strike on a market in the country’s western Darfur region. The Emergency Lawyers group, a coalition of volunteer legal professionals who have documented atrocities committed by both sides during Sudan’s nearly two-year war, reported that army warplanes executed “an indiscriminate air strike on Tora market in North Darfur,” resulting in the deaths of hundreds of civilians and seriously wounding dozens.
The report did not specify the exact date when the strike occurred. Due to a telecommunications blackout in Darfur, AFP could not independently verify the casualty toll. The army has been engaged in conflict with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since April 2023 and did not provide a response when approached for comment regarding the incident.
The RSF, which controls nearly all of Darfur and has been accused by the United States of committing genocide, claimed the army carried out the “massacre” on Monday. The ongoing war has resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands, displaced more than 12 million individuals, and led to the world’s largest hunger and displacement crises.
Darfur, a region comparable in size to France, has experienced some of the most severe violence of the war, including reports of barrel bombs being dropped on civilian areas, paramilitary attacks on famine-stricken displacement camps, and rampant ethnic violence. Despite the RSF deploying advanced drones in Darfur, the army maintains aerial superiority with its warplanes, which regularly conduct strikes against RSF positions throughout the region.
