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Sudan: Airstrike on North Darfur market kills more than 100, says Sudan lawyers’ group

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Sudan: Airstrike on North Darfur market kills more than 100, says Sudan lawyers’ group
Source:
The Guardian
2024-12-10
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A Sudanese military airstrike on a market in North Darfur has killed more than 100 people, a pro-democracy lawyers’ group said, amid a war marked by claims of atrocities on all sides. The Emergency Lawyers group said the strike on Monday injured hundreds in Kabkabiya, a town about 110 miles (180km) west of El Fasher, the state capital that has been under siege from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since May. Tens of thousands have been killed and millions displaced in a 20-month war between the RSF and Sudan’s army that has driven the north-east African country to the brink of famine, according to aid agencies. “The airstrike took place on the town’s weekly market day, where residents from various nearby villages had gathered to shop, resulting in the death of more than 100 people and injury of hundreds, including women and children,” the lawyers’ group, which has been documenting human rights abuses during the conflict, said on Tuesday. It described it as a “horrendous massacre committed by army airstrikes”, though the military denied responsibility. The army said in a statement the accusations were “lies” spread by political parties backing the RSF, adding it would continue “exercising its legitimate right to defend the country”. In footage sent to Agence France-Presse purporting to show the aftermath of Monday’s strike, people were seen sifting through rubble as the charred remains of children lay on scorched ground. The footage was supplied by a civil society group, the Darfur General Coordination of Camps for the Displaced and Refugees, and AFP has not been able to verify its accuracy. Mohamed Abdiladif, the interim country director for Save the Children in Sudan, said the attack was “unacceptable”, especially because it took place on a market day when families would be buying food supplies. “No place is safe now for children sheltering from ongoing conflict in North Darfur,” he said, noting ongoing attacks in Zamzam camp, a major refugee camp in the state that houses about 500,000 displaced people, and surrounding areas. He called on the warring parties to protect markets, schools, hospitals and other vital public infrastructure “not just as a moral obligation, but a vital step towards ensuring a stable, peaceful, and prosperous future for Sudan”. The lawyers’ group said that in a separate incident on Monday three neighbourhoods were hit with barrel bombs in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur, without reporting casualties.

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