Drone Strike Kills 28 at Market in Sudanese Town

A drone strike hit a crowded market in the town of Ghubaysh in West Kordofan on Tuesday, killing 28 people and injuring 23 others, according to a medical source and three witnesses. The attack struck a restaurant area where civilians had gathered for food and supplies. Witnesses described an initial blast that hit an RSF vehicle, followed moments later by a second strike on the restaurant.

The wounded and the dead were taken to the town's hospital.

Emergency Lawyers, a Sudanese legal advocacy group, said the strike targeted a key market relied on by thousands of civilians. A spokesman for the Sudanese military denied responsibility, saying the armed forces carry out strikes only against military objectives, including vehicles and weapons depots.

An RSF-aligned alliance condemned the strike, accusing the military of a systematic campaign of targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure in violation of international law.

Drone warfare has become an increasingly prominent feature of Sudan's conflict, with both sides deploying unmanned strikes across a broadening battlefield. Between January and April, at least 880 civilians were killed in drone strikes, according to the United Nations.

Fighting has escalated in recent months in southern Kordofan and the southeastern state of Blue Nile, following the RSF's capture last October of El-Fasher, the military's last major stronghold in western Darfur. The Kordofan region, home to oil deposits, arable land and the RSF's most powerful paramilitary allies, connects RSF strongholds in the neighbouring Darfur region to the country's army-controlled east.

Now in its fourth year, the war has killed tens of thousands of people and forced more than 11 million from their homes, creating what the United Nations describes as one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. Sudan is facing the world's largest hunger crisis, with nearly 20 million people experiencing acute food insecurity, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a UN-backed monitor.

Famine was declared last year in El-Fasher and in Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan. The IPC has warned that 14 areas across Darfur and South Kordofan are at risk of famine if fighting intensifies.