Political actors condemn further airstrikes on Darfur

Airstrikes killed dozens and injured others in Nyala and neighbouring Beleil in South Darfur and Mellit, El Koma, and Kabkabiya in North Darfur on Saturday and Sunday, according to a Radio Dabanga listener. Multiple political actors and groups have condemned the “random air raids.“

Continued aerial bombardment by the Sudanese Air Force is part of an ongoing campaign against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) which controls most of the Darfur region.

The listener from Nyala, the capital of South Darfur, told Radio Dabanga that Sudanese army warplanes appeared above the city at around 6:00 on Saturday and dropped at least six bombs. Firstly, two bombs fell on Nyala Airport. One bomb then fell near the airport hotel and Razaz grocery store, and another fell on two houses in El Matar neighbourhood, which is situated next to the airport, killing an entire family.

The aircraft then turned around and bombed a house in El Sawra neighbourhood, which contained a Starlink communications centre. Multiple people were reportedly killed and injured. The aircraft then returned and bombed the airport a second time.

Other sources told Radio Dabanga that Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) warplanes bombed an RSF base in Beleil, east of Nyala, on Saturday. Activists on social media posted videos showing scattered bodies and people injured by shrapnel from bombs dropped by the aircraft.

SAF warplanes also launched “extensive air strikes” on Mellit, El Koma, and Kabkabiya in North Darfur on Sunday, causing deaths, injuries, and property losses. Activists on social media posted photos and videos showing the effects of the airstrike on the city of Kabkabiya.

‘Heinous massacre’

The Civil Democratic Forces alliance (Tagadom) condemned the airstrikes on the South Darfur capital, which it described as a heinous massacre.

“The aerial attacks resulted in the deaths of dozens of civilians, including children, in addition to dozens of people being seriously injured, and the destruction of vital property and facilities,” said the statement published on Sunday.

The organisation highlighted that recent attacks are of concern under international humanitarian law. “These heinous crimes are escalating violence and targeting innocent civilians. This constitutes a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and war crimes, and adds to the record of violations Sudanese people have been subject to since the outbreak of the war on April 15, 2023.”

Tagadom is a group of political and civil entities and resistance committees that reject the ongoing war in Sudan, led by Sharif Osman, political secretary of the Sudanese Congress Party.

‘Random air raids’

The National Umma Party also condemned “the ongoing random air raids” by the SAF in Nyala in a statement on Sunday. “Despite our repeated demands to the leadership of the armed forces to spare citizens the dangers of aerial bombardment, these violations continue, without any consideration for the lives of civilians.”

The airstrikes “left dozens of innocent civilians dead and wounded, most of them children, women, and elderly people, whose bodies were burned by the bombs.”

The party condemned the repeated indiscriminate bombing of civilians, pointing out that the ongoing aerial bombardment by the Sudanese Armed Forces on markets and residential areas “has become a real threat to the lives of civilians, and a crime that requires monitoring and accountability.”

No-fly zone

The Darfur Peace and Justice Initiative (DPJI) also condemned the targeting of civilians by the Sudanese Air Force, calling for a no-fly zone to protect civilians in Darfur. “The bombing has led to the killing and wounding of hundreds of civilians,” member of DPJI Journalist Abu Obeida Awad said.

In an interview with Radio Dabanga, Awad alleged that the warplanes are targeting innocent civilians rather than RSF military sites. Radio Dabanga was unable to obtain immediate comment from the SAF or government on these accusations.

He called on the international community to take serious steps to protect civilians and impose a no-fly zone in Darfur. On October 31, former Sudanese Prime Minister and former leader of Tagadom, Abdalla Hamdok, called for international actors, especially the UK, to consider enforcing a no-fly zone, creating safe zones, and possibly deploying peacekeeping forces in Sudan.

Calls for ceasefire

A group of UN Special Rapporteurs lamented that the ongoing conflict has displaced over 11 million people, over half of them children, in a situation marked by severe violations of international humanitarian and human rights laws, in a statement on November 5. 

“The SAF and the RSF must end their assault on civilians, ensure unfettered access to humanitarian aid, prevent and ensure accountability for conflict-related sexual violence and provide victims with protection, assistance, and remedy, and work towards a ceasefire, inclusive political negotiations, the restoration of law and order, and ensuring accountability for violations of international humanitarian and human rights law,” said the statement.

88 people were reported killed in airstrikes on El Koma Market and Mellit on October 25, adding to the hundreds reportedly killed since airstrikes began to escalate in August in Darfur. The two warring parties and their supporters are fighting for the control of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, along with West Darfur, El Gezira, Sennar, White Nile state, and North Kordofan.

The RSF has also launched an intensive recruitment campaign in Darfur and Kordofan, mobilising fighters along tribal lines. This move has amplified concerns that Sudan’s ongoing conflict could devolve into widespread ethnic violence, further prolonging instability in the war-torn nation.