Drone Strike in Sudan Border Town Kills At Least 14: Survivor, Official
A drone strike attributed to the Rapid Support Forces killed at least 14 people, mostly women, in Al-Tina, a town on the Sudan-Chad border.
A drone strike reportedly carried out by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) resulted in the deaths of at least 14 individuals, with the majority being women, in the Sudanese town of Al-Tina, situated along the border with Chad.
This information was disclosed to AFP on Tuesday through a survivor and corroborated by a government official.
According to the survivor, who used a satellite internet connection due to a communication blackout, locals discovered 14 bodies at the site of the attack, most of whom were women.
The incident occurred in the Al-Tina market where a gathering of women selling food and tea took place on Monday.
The assault on civilian locations such as markets is not uncommon amidst the ongoing conflict between Sudan’s army and the RSF.
Since April 2023, this conflict has led to significant casualties, with tens of thousands of deaths reported.
However, the exact toll remains challenging to confirm due to the ongoing violence; aid workers estimate that over 200,000 people have been killed.
Al-Tina, situated on the border with Chad in the Darfur region, has experienced regular attacks from the RSF this year.
The city is at high risk of famine as per UN food security assessments, leading thousands to seek refuge across the border into Chad.
The paramilitary forces consolidated their control over the Darfur region last year; however, the Joint Forces—a coalition of armed groups allied with the army—maintains strongholds near the border, including in Al-Tina.
Drone warfare has increasingly become a prominent feature of this conflict, with both parties employing unmanned strikes across the country while keeping their depleted forces away from the frontlines.
Between January and April, at least 880 civilians fell victim to drone strikes according to UN reports.
Now in its fourth year, the conflict has generated the world’s largest hunger and displacement crises.
In North Darfur state alone, where Al-Tina is located, approximately 1.7 million people are displaced, with hundreds of thousands teetering on the edge of starvation.
This information was disclosed to AFP on Tuesday through a survivor and corroborated by a government official.
According to the survivor, who used a satellite internet connection due to a communication blackout, locals discovered 14 bodies at the site of the attack, most of whom were women.
The incident occurred in the Al-Tina market where a gathering of women selling food and tea took place on Monday.
The assault on civilian locations such as markets is not uncommon amidst the ongoing conflict between Sudan’s army and the RSF.
Since April 2023, this conflict has led to significant casualties, with tens of thousands of deaths reported.
However, the exact toll remains challenging to confirm due to the ongoing violence; aid workers estimate that over 200,000 people have been killed.
Al-Tina, situated on the border with Chad in the Darfur region, has experienced regular attacks from the RSF this year.
The city is at high risk of famine as per UN food security assessments, leading thousands to seek refuge across the border into Chad.
The paramilitary forces consolidated their control over the Darfur region last year; however, the Joint Forces—a coalition of armed groups allied with the army—maintains strongholds near the border, including in Al-Tina.
Drone warfare has increasingly become a prominent feature of this conflict, with both parties employing unmanned strikes across the country while keeping their depleted forces away from the frontlines.
Between January and April, at least 880 civilians fell victim to drone strikes according to UN reports.
Now in its fourth year, the conflict has generated the world’s largest hunger and displacement crises.
In North Darfur state alone, where Al-Tina is located, approximately 1.7 million people are displaced, with hundreds of thousands teetering on the edge of starvation.
