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A Sudanese war monitor has accused the military of carrying out a deadly air strike on a market in the country’s western Darfur region, killing hundreds of people in what has been described as a “horrific massacre.” The attack, which targeted Tur’rah market, has also left hundreds more injured, according to the Emergency Lawyers group, an organization that tracks abuses in Sudan’s ongoing civil war, which erupted in April 2023.
Graphic videos shared on social media—some posted by the rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group that controls much of Darfur—show the smoking remains of market stalls and bodies burned beyond recognition.
The Sudanese military has denied targeting civilians, stating it only strikes “legitimate hostile targets.” Both the military and the RSF have repeatedly been accused of shelling civilian areas during the conflict. While the RSF has used drones in the region, the army possesses warplanes and regularly targets RSF positions.
The exact death toll and date of the attack have yet to be confirmed, though the Darfur Initiative for Justice and Peace, an activist group, claimed the bombing occurred on Monday, calling it the “deadliest single bombing since the war began.”
The conflict has led to a severe humanitarian crisis, with civilian deaths from bombings and shelling escalating in recent months. Since the war broke out, around 12 million people have been displaced—roughly the entire populations of Belgium or Tunisia. Famine has taken hold, with over half of Sudan experiencing “high levels of acute food insecurity,” according to the UN.
The violence, which has resulted in an estimated 150,000 deaths, has led the RSF to deny accusations of genocide, including claims of widespread murders and the systematic rape of non-Arab women as part of “ethnic cleansing.”
The United Nations has labeled Sudan’s crisis the world’s worst humanitarian disaster.
