Drone attacks on two Sudanese markets kill 33 and injure 59, as warring sides trade blame for targeting civilians in the escalating conflict.

KHARTOUM: Drone strikes on two markets in paramilitary-controlled towns in southwest Sudan have killed 33 people and injured 59 others, according to a medical source.

The attacks targeted the markets of Abu Zabad and Wad Banda in West Kordofan state, a resource-rich region that is currently the fiercest battlefield in the nearly three-year war between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

A doctor at Abu Zabad hospital, one of the few medical facilities still serving the area, confirmed that two drones struck the markets on Saturday, with 30 of the wounded still receiving treatment.

A resident of Abu Zabad town, Hamad Abdullah, said he helped bury 20 people following what he described as an army drone strike on the town’s market.

“Four of them were my relatives who worked in the market,” he told AFP.

A military source rejected the accusations, telling AFP that the “armed forces do not bombard civilian areas”.

“This is a lie with no basis. We only target rebels, their equipment and their weapons depots,” the source said, requesting anonymity because they are not authorised to brief the media.

Since war broke out in April 2023, both sides have been accused of war crimes including targeting civilians and indiscriminately shelling residential areas.

The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced more than 11 million and fuelled what the United Nations describes as the world’s largest displacement and hunger crises.

 The Sun Malaysia