Sudanese Army Warplanes Drop Barrel Bombs on West Darfur

Sudanese fleeing violence in West Darfur (Reuters)

Sudanese army's warplanes on Sunday dropped barrel bombs on sites in the cities of Nyala and El Daein in the Darfur region, west of the country, killing and injuring a number of civilians, and destroying several public service facilities and residences.
“The coup warplanes and the remnants of the old regime bombed populated areas and committed a new violation,” the Rapid Support Forces said in a statement posted on their X account.
Local sources said the warplanes dropped explosive barrels on homes in El Geneina city in West Darfur, causing major destruction. A woman and four civilians were killed in the airstrike that hit the civilian neighborhood of Al-Naseem.
According to the same sources, the Army targeted areas situated far from the military positions where the RSF are positioned. They added that one of the barrels fell on a cemetery in the city.
Several eyewitnesses also said that the airstrikes destroyed dozens of nearby homes.
On Saturday night, the Sudanese Army warplanes bombed Nyala, the capital of South Darfur.
An RSF statement said the “treacherous army aircraft deliberately destroyed a women’s hospital, the customs building and nearby buildings and the main gas depot, causing major destruction.”
Also, tens of people were killed by random shelling, and significant damage was recorded in a number of residential buildings, the statement said.
“The RSF condemn these acts and practices that constitute war crimes,” it said, stressing that the fight against the remnants of the isolated regime will not stop.
Meanwhile, the Darfur Justice and Peace Initiative, an independent body, said that residents of Nyala and El Geneina, “woke up to the sounds of explosive barrels, which killed and injured a number of civilians, including women and children.”
In a statement, it denounced “the targeting of civilians on ethnic and regional grounds,” stressing that the residents of both cities have nothing to do with the war.
Separately, the Sudanese Army and the RSF exchanged artillery shelling in the city of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, amid a massive wave of displacement to other safe areas in light of difficult humanitarian conditions.