More than 100 killed in Sudan army drone strike on busy market, 113 injured

More than 100 people were killed and 113 injured in a Sudanese military drone strike on a busy market in Nyala, rights group Emergency Lawyers said. Separately, a drone attack disrupted electricity across Khartoum, worsening Sudan's deepening humanitarian crisis.

In Short

• Women and children among victims of strike in RSF-controlled Nyala
• Separate drone attack leaves large parts of Khartoum without electricity
• Sudan conflict has left 34 million people needing humanitarian assistance

More than 100 people were killed and 113 injured in a Sudanese military drone strike on a busy market in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur, a rights group said on Tuesday, as escalating drone attacks in the country's ongoing civil war continued to take a devastating toll on civilians.

Emergency Lawyers, a group monitoring violence in Sudan, said the strike took place on Monday evening and that many of the victims were women and children. It blamed the Sudanese military for the attack and called for an independent investigation.

The group condemned the strike, saying it had turned a civilian marketplace into a scene of mass casualties and further worsened the suffering of residents amid the ongoing conflict.

Doctors Without Borders, also known as Mdecins Sans Frontires (MSF), said 36 bodies had arrived at its hospital in Nyala, while around 150 injured people were seen in its emergency room.

Nyala is controlled by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which has been fighting the Sudanese military since April 2023. Both sides have increasingly used explosive-laden drones, with strikes hitting civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, schools, markets, dams and displacement camps.

The United Nations has warned that drone attacks have become one of the deadliest threats to civilians in Sudan, killing people, including children, and disrupting essential services.

KHARTOUM FACES POWER OUTAGES AFTER DRONE STRIKE

In a separate incident, large parts of Sudan's capital, Khartoum, were left without electricity for more than 12 hours on Tuesday following a drone strike on a major transformer station in Omdurman, on the outskirts of the capital.

The attack on the Al-Markhiyat transformer station disrupted power supplies, leaving hospitals and bakeries dependent on generators and restricting water supplies. An electricity company official told the Associated Press that the strike could affect around 60 per cent of the capital's power supply, with water stations likely to be among the worst affected.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, blamed the RSF for the attack, which he said was the second strike on the station this year.

The state-run Sudanese Electricity Distribution Company acknowledged serious damage and technical faults across the distribution network, including at several major stations and power lines. It said technical teams were working around the clock to restore electricity and warned that power rationing would continue for longer than usual until repairs were completed.

Residents reported severe disruptions to daily life. One resident in southern Khartoum said he had been without electricity and water for 17 hours, raising concerns about preserving his insulin supply, which requires refrigeration. He also warned that bakery closures could worsen bread shortages and push prices higher.

Drone attacks in Khartoum had become less frequent after the Sudanese military regained control of the capital in May 2025, following years of intense fighting. However, the latest strike has renewed concerns over the vulnerability of essential infrastructure.

SUDAN'S HUMANITARIAN CRISIS DEEPENS

Sudan's conflict, which erupted in April 2023 after tensions between the military and the RSF escalated into open fighting in Khartoum, has spread across the country and triggered what the United Nations describes as the world's largest humanitarian crisis.

The conflict has killed at least 59,000 people, according to conflict monitor ACLED, although aid groups believe the actual toll could be significantly higher. Around 34 million people need humanitarian assistance, while more than 67 per cent of the population depends on aid, according to figures cited in the report.

Some 825,000 children are facing acute malnutrition. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a global food crisis monitor, recently warned that worsening conditions across greater Darfur and Kordofan were increasing the risk of famine.

In a joint statement, more than 30 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Commission, urged the warring parties to remove all obstacles to humanitarian assistance.

As fighting and drone strikes continue, civilians face mounting threats from attacks on populated areas, worsening food insecurity and disruptions to electricity, water and healthcare services.

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