A drone attack on a crowded Sudanese market killed 28 people as rival forces escalate aerial assaults in a key battlefront region.

KHARTOUM: A drone attack on a crowded market in central Sudan has killed 28 people. The strike occurred in a paramilitary-controlled area of North Kordofan, the current fiercest frontline in the three-year war.

The Emergency Lawyers group, which monitors atrocities, reported the attack hit the al-Safiya market outside Sodari town. It said the market was bustling with civilians, including women, children and the elderly when several drones struck.

The group described the death toll as preliminary. It gave no indication of which side carried out the strike.

Sodari is a remote town where desert trade routes cross, located about 230 kilometres northwest of El-Obeid. The RSF paramilitary has been trying to encircle the state capital for months.

The Kordofan region has seen a surge in deadly drone attacks. Both sides are fighting for control of the vital east-west axis linking Darfur to the capital Khartoum.

Attacks by both sides on remote towns and villages have killed dozens of civilians at a time. Last Wednesday, a strike on a school killed two children and wounded a dozen others.

Another attack severely damaged a United Nations warehouse storing famine relief supplies. The RSF has been pushing east through resource-rich Kordofan after consolidating hold of Darfur last year.

The war between the army and the RSF has killed tens of thousands since April 2023. It has displaced around 11 million people, creating the world’s largest hunger and displacement crises.

The conflict has effectively split Sudan in two. The army holds the centre, north and east, while the RSF controls the west and parts of the south with allies.

 The Sun Malaysia