Nyala under fire once again… Dozens killed in SAF airstrikes

Today, Tuesday, (38) civilians were killed as a result of an airstrike carried out by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) warplanes on the city of Nyala, the capital of South Darfur state, in a series of airstrikes that have continued for the fourth consecutive day.

This particular airstrike comes less than (24) hours after the city was subjected to violent bombing on Monday, which resulted in the deaths of dozens of civilians, according to medical sources at Nyala Hospital.

The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) strongly condemned what it described as “The therepeated and deliberate shelling of the innocent civilians in Nyala by the racist Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), operating under the Islamic Movement.”

In a press statement, the Rapid Support Forces confirmed that the bombing that targeted the city today, Tuesday, claimed the lives of more than (38) citizens, most of whom were women and children, considering this a flagrant violation of International Humanitarian Law, and targeting unarmed civilians on racist and regional grounds, according to its expression.

The statement added that Nyala witnessed, during the past three days, a series of intensive airstrikes that resulted in the killing of (238) civilians, injuring hundreds, in addition to the widespread destruction of homes and vital infrastructure, which caused the involuntary displacement of dozens of families, amidst regional and international silence as well as a media blackout.

The Rapid Support Forces reiterated that targeting civilians on ethnic and racial grounds using barrel bombs, and forcibly displacing them by destroying their homes, constitutes a full-fledged war crime and a violation of the Geneva Conventions that prohibit indiscriminate attacks on non-combatants.

The Rapid Support Forces called on international organizations, especially the United Nations (UN), to monitor and condemn what it described as “Brutal atrocities,” and urged independent media to expose these “Racist crimes” against innocent civilians, according to the statement.

Human Rights Reports: Systematic Targeting

Human rights organizations monitoring the situation in Sudan, such as the Darfur Victims Support Organization (DVS) believe that “The intensive airstrikes carried out by the Sudanese Army’s warplanes on civilian areas aren’t random, but rather part of a systematic strategy aimed at destroying the social fabric and the local economy in Darfur.”  

For its part, the “Emergency Lawyers” human rights organization shared that the city of Nyala, the capital of South Darfur state, has been subjected to a series of random attacks by warplanes, where the raids targeted residential neighborhoods, including “The airport, Al-Rahman, and the factories neighborhoods” using barrel bombs.

“These attacks are merely a part of an ongoing escalation campaign that -consequently- refute any claims about the airstrikes being limited to military targets, as the raids are deliberately targeting populated residential areas,” the organization shared in a statement.

The human rights organization stressed that targeting civilians in such a manner constitutes a war crime that cannot be tolerated.

The indiscriminate airstrikes of civilians and civilian objects constitutes a violation of the principles of International Humanitarian Law, and Common Article 3 to the Geneva Conventions of (1949) and Additional Protocol II, which prohibit the targeting of civilians and civilian objects during armed conflicts.