Rights group says drone strike kills 11 in central Sudan market
A drone strike on a market in North Kordofan killed at least 11 people and wounded dozens, according to a rights group. The attack adds to Sudan's worsening civilian toll.
Intelligence analysis by GPT-5.4 Mini
Emergency Lawyers says a drone hit the main market in Abu Zaeima, a paramilitary-held town in North Kordofan, killing at least 11 people. The strike is part of a sharp rise in drone attacks as Sudan's war grinds deeper into its fourth year.
A flying bomb hit a busy market in Sudan and killed many people. It is like a storm of danger reaching places where families buy food, showing how the war is hurting ordinary people, not just soldiers.
Analysis
What happened
A drone strike hit the main market in Abu Zaeima, a town in North Kordofan controlled by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, according to the rights group Emergency Lawyers. The group said at least 11 people were killed and dozens were wounded, and warned the number could rise.
Why it is alarming
The group said the strike came less than 24 hours after similar drone attacks hit nearby villages and a civilian vehicle. Later on Saturday, witnesses told AFP that another drone struck a fuel station in el-Obeid, the North Kordofan capital that the RSF has partly encircled for months. A hospital source said four wounded civilians were taken there.
Emergency Lawyers condemned what it described as repeated targeting of civilians, villages and public transport, saying such attacks show a disregard for human life and international humanitarian law. Neither the army nor the RSF claimed responsibility.
The bigger picture
Drone warfare has become more common in Sudan's war. The United Nations said in May that at least 880 civilians were killed in drone strikes across the country between January and April. Emergency Lawyers and a local leader said nearly 70 people were killed in two drone strikes in West and North Kordofan over the past week.
Fighting has intensified in Kordofan and Blue Nile near the Ethiopian border since the RSF captured el-Fasher last October. The UN says more than 300,000 people have fled front-line areas since then. Kordofan matters because it links RSF-held territory in Darfur with army-controlled eastern Sudan and is rich in oil and farmland. The war is now entering its fourth year, with tens of thousands dead and nearly 13 million displaced.
Key points
- A drone strike hit the main market in Abu Zaeima, a town in North Kordofan, according to Emergency Lawyers.
- The rights group said at least 11 people were killed and dozens more were wounded.
- Another drone later hit a fuel station in el-Obeid, and four wounded civilians were taken to a hospital there.
- The UN says drone strikes killed at least 880 civilians nationwide between January and April.
- Sudan's war is entering its fourth year, with mass displacement and hunger still worsening.
If attacks on civilians stop, fewer people would be killed in markets, villages, and transport routes. A halt to drone strikes could also make it easier for aid workers and hospitals to respond to the wounded.
If the drone campaign continues, the civilian death toll is likely to keep rising and more families may flee the area. Ongoing attacks on markets and fuel stations could deepen the hunger, displacement, and fear already affecting Kordofan and beyond.
