![Airstrike in Khartoum. [Photo courtesy]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sudanspost.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/65949732_605.jpg?resize=1199%2C674&quality=89&ssl=1)
Since Thursday, the SAF has unleashed a barrage of bombs on areas in Khartoum, North Darfur, North Kordofan, and Al Jazirah states, resulting in a devastating toll of over 140 deaths and hundreds of injuries.
At least eight civilians were killed in an airstrike on Khartoum’s Wad Abu Saleh suburb on Friday afternoon. According to local sources, those who died in the airstrike, did not include any RSF combatant.
“The number of the people killed in this incident is 8 people and 17 injuries. Those who have been killed are all civilians without any single RSF soldier in them. They are largely women and children and the elderly people. This needs to be brought to an end by the army because now there is no different with the RSF,” one local resident told Sudans Post.
In Melit locality of North Darfur, the SAF conducted an airstrike on the Melit market on Friday afternoon, resulting in the deaths of at least 23 people. Local sources told Sudans Post that the area had been bombed three times over the past week, with the latest strike occurring on Friday morning.
“The air force bombed Melit three times this week because they believe RSF convoys are passing through to El Fasher, but that’s not true. We don’t know if there are military movements outside the town, but inside, it’s all civilians. Most RSF forces left for El Fasher weeks ago. They bombed the town on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, leaving 23 people dead as I speak to you,” a resident told Sudans Post.
In a separate incident, an airstrike on the town of Koma, North Darfur, on Friday killed 45 civilians and injured 250 others. Local sources reported widespread panic among residents, along with significant damage to civilian property. The airstrike targeted the town’s busy market, dropping multiple barrel bombs on civilians.
“The initial statistics show that 45 civilians were killed, and 250 others were injured,” said Saleh Harireen, spokesperson for the emergency response team in Koma. Harireen added that the town was attacked at 10 a.m., with barrel bombs devastating the market during its busiest hours. The bodies were later buried in mass graves, according to local sources.
Koma’s mayor, Ahmed Mohamed Ismail, expressed shock at the indiscriminate targeting of civilians. “People go to the market to earn a living and support their families. It’s unthinkable that they would be bombed like this,” he said, urging international organizations to intervene to protect civilians.
Meanwhile, an airstrike on Hamara Al-Sheikh in North Kordofan claimed the lives of 30 civilians and injured 117 others. The RSF issued a statement accusing the SAF of committing atrocities against civilians, describing the airstrike as part of a broader campaign of mass killing in Darfur and Kordofan.
“The air force dropped barrel bombs on crowded markets and residential neighborhoods, resulting in the deaths of 30 people on the spot and injuring over 100, mostly women and children,” the RSF statement said. The statement called on the international community to address what it described as a systematic targeting of civilians.
In yet another airstrike, the SAF targeted Hasaheisa in Al Jazirah State, killing 37 people, according to eyewitnesses who spoke to Sudans Post, and injuring over 100 people. The Emergency Lawyers condemned the continued air raids across the war-torn Sudan.
“The army’s indiscriminate airstrikes on civilians violate international humanitarian law principles of distinction and proportionality,” the statement said, urging international intervention to halt the attacks and hold perpetrators accountable.
The ongoing conflict between the SAF and RSF, which began in April 2023, has escalated into widespread violence across Sudan, leading to a catastrophic humanitarian crisis affecting millions of civilians.
