EL FASHER, SUDAN — A Sudanese war monitor has accused the nation’s military of perpetrating a devastating air strike on a bustling market in the western Darfur region, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of civilians.
The Emergency Lawyers group, which meticulously documents human rights abuses committed by both factions in Sudan’s ongoing civil war, characterized the bombing of the Tur’rah market as a “horrific massacre,” further reporting that hundreds more sustained injuries.
Social media platforms have been inundated with graphic videos, some shared by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the paramilitary group vying for control of Darfur, depicting the charred remnants of market stalls and the unrecognizable remains of victims.
In response, a military spokesperson refuted claims of targeting civilians, asserting that its forces only engaged legitimate military targets. Both the Sudanese armed forces and the RSF have faced repeated accusations of indiscriminately shelling civilian populated areas.
While the RSF has deployed drone technology in Darfur, the Sudanese military possesses air superiority, conducting regular air strikes against RSF positions throughout the region.
Vivid voice News has been unable to independently verify the precise death toll or the exact date of the attack on the Tur’rah market, located approximately 35km north of the army-controlled city of el-Fasher.
The Darfur Initiative for Justice and Peace, a local activist group, alleges that the attack occurred on Monday and has labeled it “the deadliest single bombing since the beginning of the war.”
The conflict, which erupted in April 2023, has witnessed a surge in civilian casualties due to intensified bombing and shelling in recent months. The United Nations reports that approximately 12 million Sudanese individuals have been displaced since the war’s onset, a figure comparable to the entire populations of Belgium or Tunisia.
The humanitarian crisis has reached catastrophic levels, with widespread famine and starvation. The UN estimates that over half of Sudan’s population is experiencing “high levels of acute food insecurity.”
While casualty estimates vary, reports indicate that at least 150,000 people have perished in the conflict.
The RSF has vehemently denied accusations of committing genocide in Darfur, which include the alleged mass murder of civilians and the use of rape against non-Arab women as a tool of “ethnic cleansing.”
The UN has designated the situation in Sudan as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
