Sudan drone strike kills 14, mostly women, in market near Chad border

A drone strike on a food market in the Sudanese border town of Al-Tina has killed at least 14 people, most of them women, with the attack widely attributed to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The incident took place on Monday, May 25, in a region already teetering on the brink of famine.

According to witnesses, the attack targeted a market area where local women were selling food and tea. Local residents recovered 14 bodies from the scene, the majority of whom were women. The remote location and a near-total communications blackout in Sudan have made it difficult to obtain precise details, with information being relayed via satellite internet.

A Sudanese government official has confirmed the attack, stating that authorities are currently assessing the full extent of the casualties and damage. Al-Tina is located in North Darfur, an area where the RSF has been conducting regular offensives. Despite the RSF controlling most of the Darfur region, government-allied Joint Forces still hold several pockets near the Chadian border, including Al-Tina.

Drone warfare has become a dominant tactic in the Sudanese civil war, allowing both sides to strike while keeping ground forces at a distance. According to UN data, at least 880 civilians have been killed in drone strikes in Sudan between January and April of this year alone.

The war, which began in April 2023, has entered its fourth year, creating the world's largest hunger and displacement crisis. Over 200,000 people are estimated to have been killed. Al-Tina lies in North Darfur, where over 1.7 million people are displaced and hundreds of thousands are on the brink of starvation.