Sudan civil war: Army drone strike on Darfur court session kills 35, rights group says

Thirty-five people were killed in a drone strike by the Sudanese army on a traditional court session in the north of the Darfur region, a local rights organisation has said.

Dozens more were reported injured in Sunday afternoon’s attack.

The Emergency Lawyers Group, which monitors violence against civilians, said the attack occurred in Ghara al-Zawiya village that is controlled by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The army has not commented.

The RSF holds most of Darfur, in the west of the country, as the two sides continue to fight in the three-year-long civil war that has devastated the country, killed tens of thousands of people and forced millions from their homes.

Sunday’s “court session was being held under a tree with the participation of local community leaders,” a witness is quoted by the AFP news agency as saying.

Four tribal leaders and two RSF commanders were among those killed in the attack, according to the witness.

The privately owned Darfur 24 website quoted a local resident who said that two drones flew over the town “before launching more than four missiles”.

The Emergency Lawyers Group called for an investigation into the drone strike and condemned the targeting of the court saying that attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure are a “grave violation of international humanitarian law”.

It also noted that drones are being increasingly used “to target civilian areas and gatherings, which exacerbates the risks faced by the population”.

The RSF has also been accused of war crimes including drone attacks on civilians over the past three years.

The paramilitary group’s siege and attack on el-Fasher, one of Darfur’s main cities, last year bore the “hallmarks of genocide” according to a UN fact-finding mission.

The RSF has denied the accusations.