Military drone strikes in southwestern Sudan’s Darfur that killed more than 100 people – mostly women and children – earlier this week targeted a busy city market frequented by paramilitary fighters, witnesses said.
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witnesses → kill → fighters
Emergency Lawyers, a rights group tracking violence, put the toll from Monday’s attacks at more than 100 dead and 113 wounded.
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Lawyers → track → 100
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shift → escalate → crisis
While Emergency Lawyers reported that most of the victims were women and children, witnesses said on Wednesday that multiple civilian vendors who sold goods to paramilitary fighters were among those killed in the attack in Nyala, the South Darfur city that serves as the de facto capital of Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
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that → report → Forces
The war between the RSF and the army, now in its fourth year, has created severe poverty, food shortages and the world’s worst displacement crisis.
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war → create → poverty
A cigarette vendor told the Associated Press news agency on Wednesday that hundreds of RSF fighters gathered at the market on the evening of the attack.
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hundreds → tell → attack
He said that he moved his stall between gatherings of the paramilitary fighters to sell cigarettes and that a drone struck around 8pm (18:00 GMT), killing dozens of fighters and women selling food.
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drone → say → food
Another witness told the AP that the explosion was massive and killed many fighters.
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explosion → tell → fighters
He estimated that around 14 civilians, including women and children, were also killed, most of them women selling tea and food.
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most → estimate → tea
Both spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.
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Both → speak → retaliation
Mubarak Bekheit, an aid worker in Darfur, said on Wednesday that many people remained missing and some bodies had yet to be recovered from homes in the area after the strike hit a civilian neighbourhood.
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strike → say → neighbourhood
“I personally know that war has no morality, but the reality we witness every day is that civilians are the ones paying the highest price.
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civilians → know → price
They lose their lives, their loved ones, and their homes, while living under the constant fear of further bombardment,” he said.
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he → lose → bombardment
Mohamed Didan, the official spokesperson for the Special Operations Forces fighting with the army, wrote on Facebook that more than “150 militia recruits” were killed at the Dumaya camp, west of Nyala, in what he described as a “precise and targeted air strike”.
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he → fight → strike
Casualty figures from Monday’s attack are unconfirmed and could not be independently verified amid limited information from the city.
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figures → verify → city
Sudan Doctors Network, another group that tracks violence, issued a statement on Wednesday preliminarily reporting 21 dead and more than 40 wounded, saying shelling caused most of the deaths.
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shelling → track → deaths
“The release of this statement was delayed … given the challenges of accessing field documentation sources within Nyala amid ongoing active military operations and security constraints that hinder efforts to monitor and verify the conditions of victims and the injured,” the group said.
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group → delay → victims
Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, said that a second strike hit a civilian neighbourhood after the market attack.
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strike → know → attack
MSF said a hospital it supports in Nyala received 36 bodies in the hours after the strike, 21 of them wearing civilian clothing, and that its teams saw more than 150 wounded in the emergency room.
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150 → say → room
MSF called the strikes “appalling”.
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MSF → call → strikes
“Markets, homes, and key civilian infrastructure are not targets,” the group said in a statement.
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group → say → statement
“All parties to the conflict must protect civilians.”
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parties → protect → civilians
Drone strikes have become the leading cause of civilian deaths in Sudan, the United Nations reported, in a war that has pushed parts of the country into famine.
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that → become → famine
In RSF-controlled Nyala, the share of children seeking treatment for severe acute malnutrition more than doubled between January and August, from 5 to 11 percent, according to UN estimates released earlier this month.
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share → control → estimates
The Aporia
