French medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières says it has treated more than 20 people for injuries after a drone strike set fuel reserves alight in western Sudan, killing at least 11 people.
The strike on the Adikong market near Sudan’s eastern border in Chad on Thursday is the second deadly drone strike there in less than a month, MSF said on Friday.
At least 11 people were burned to death, while 23 people were brought to the hospital in Adre, Chad — among them seven children.
United Nations High Commissioner Volker Turk on Thursday said his office had received reports of over 200 civilian deaths by drones in parts of Sudan since March 4.
Many homes, schools, markets and health facilities were damaged or destroyed in the attacks, Turk said.
Drones have become a key weapon used by both sides in the war between Sudan’s army and the Rapid Support Forces that began in April 2023.
The use of drones allowed the RSF to overcome the army’s air dominance earlier in the conflict.
On Wednesday, an explosive-laden drone blamed on Sudanese paramilitaries struck a secondary school and a health care centre in southern Sudan, killing at least 17 people, mostly schoolgirls, a hospital official and a medical group said.
At least 10 people were wounded in the strike in the village of Shukeiri in the White Nile province, according to Dr. Musa al-Majeri, director of the Douiem Hospital, the nearest major medical facility to the village.
The war-tracking Sudan Doctors Network reported the strike first, saying those killed included two teachers and a health care worker. The group said there was no military presence in the village.
The Rapid Support Forces are being blamed for the strike. The RSF didn’t respond to a request for comment.
“This horrific crime represents a continuation of the violations committed by the RSF in the White Nile,” said Dr. Razan Al-Mahdi, a spokeswoman for the medical group, adding that the paramilitaries attacked several civilian facilities in the past two days, including a student dormitory and a power station.
The strike in the village of Shukeiri in the White Nile province was the latest deadly attack in Sudan’s nearly three-year war.
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