WED 27 MAY - At least 30 people have been reported killed and more than 60 injured in a series of drone strikes thought to have been carried out by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in North Darfur.
The strikes hit civilian sites in the areas of Tine, Kernoi, and Basaw, which all sit near the Chad border, over recent days, with women and children among the dead.
It comes as part of a broader offensive by the RSF that aims to push the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) out of its last remaining areas of control in Darfur.
Speaking to Avaaz, Bilal*, a civilian who attended the aftermath of a strike in Kernoi on Monday, said it hit a busy market area at around midday and described the bodies of those killed as being “burned totally” and “like charcoal”.
Two adult men and two children aged 14 and 12 died at the scene, he said, while a fifth person - an elderly man - died later of his injuries.
Pictures from the scene shared by the El Fasher Resistance Committees showed debris strewn around a badly-damaged structure and a number of fires still burning in the wreckage.
At least two bodies were visible, including one - seemingly that of a child - that was almost completely charred.
Bilal said another four people had been injured, two of whom had been taken by car to be treated at a medical facility in Tine.
The market was in an area controlled by the SAF-allied Joint Forces but there was no military presence nearby at the time of the strike, he said.
He added that drones were often seen or heard over Kernoi in the late morning and early afternoon, and that people were typically cautious at those times, but that the bustle of the market and sound of generators meant the drone had not been audible.
Minni Minawi, nominal governor of Darfur, described the strike as a “brutal massacre” against “innocent civilians in markets and public spaces”.
“Targeting markets and civilian neighborhoods is not an act of war, but rather blatant terrorism and a crime against humanity that the entire world must condemn,” he said in a statement.
The strike followed another on Kernoi on Friday that also left five dead and four injured, according to the UN.
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On Tuesday, six people were killed in a strike on a watering hole for livestock in the Basaw area, to the north of Kernoi, Bilal said, while four people were taken to Tine with serious injuries.
Most of the victims are believed to have been animal herders.
On Sunday, 14 people were killed and more than 50 were injured in a strike on another market in Tine, according to the resistance committee. The figures have not been independently verified by Avaaz.
Bilal, who had knowledge of the situation in Tine, said that those killed included three female tea makers at the market.
Tine sits on both sides of the Chad-Sudan border and is one of the main crossing points into Darfur as well as a regional hub for commercial and humanitarian traffic.
The resistance committee said the strikes “shake human conscience” and add to a “series of continuous violations” of the rights of civilians.
Bilal said many civilians in the area were “living in horror” for fear of the drone strikes, but that fleeing to displacement camps over the Chad border, as many had already done, meant abandoning your possessions with no guarantee of good living conditions at the camps.
“You lose everything and go to another place to get services from organisations. They prefer to stay,” he said.
“They have animals, small numbers of goats, camels, and some cows. To stay with them and [continue] their lives is better than going to other areas and taking services from other people.”
Since the fall of North Darfur state capital El Fasher to the RSF in October, the group has held most of Darfur and all its major urban centres, but SAF maintains a presence in areas along the Chad border, and recent months have seen frequent attacks in the region.
In January, at least 63 people were killed and 57 were injured in ground assaults launched by the RSF on Kernoi, France24 reports.
In February, Médecins Sans Frontières said 29 people had been treated at a hospital it supports in Tine following a strike in western Sudan in which 10 people were killed.
In March, 17 people were killed after a drone strike hit a funeral on the Chad side of the border.
The most recent strikes coincide with a build-up of RSF troops in the area to the south of Tine, possibly in preparation for a ground assault on the area, Sudan Tribune reports.
The weekly dispatch features the latest developments, first-hand testimony, footage, photos, stats and analysis on Sudan. We can connect you with voices from the ground, experts, and survivors of the war. Get in touch on +44 7514 796 678 or sudan@avaaz.org.
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