PORT SUDAN, Sudan: A drone attack on Tuesday left 12 people dead and 30 injured in the city of Atbara in northeastern Sudan, said the doctors and witnesses.
The city has so far been spared from the country’s brutal war. Much of Sudan has been embroiled in a bloody war between regular forces and militia rapid support forces for nearly a year.
In a phone call, one of the witnesses, referring to the dinner for breaking the fast in the holy month of Ramadan, said that the fire was caused by a drone attack during breaking the fast.
Another resident told media that the meal, which was hosted by and at the base of the Islamist Baraa militia fighting alongside the Sudanese army, brought together both civilians and fighters.
Residents of Atbara, about 300 kilometers northeast of Khartoum, were left with a “wave of panic” due to the shock of the explosion, the official said.
A medical source said the bodies of “seven dead and six wounded” had arrived at a hospital in Atbara, without specifying whether they were fighters or civilians.
The war, which began on April 15, has killed thousands and displaced more than 8.5 million people inside and outside its borders, according to the United Nations.
Atbara was spared the war, but army troops are stationed there to protect the city, which is strategically located on the road to Port Sudan on the Red Sea, and the government loyal to the army has taken refuge there.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
The RSF originates from the feared Janjaweed militia launched by former dictator Omar al-Bashir in the early 2000s to suppress the ethic tribes of Darfur.
Militant groups now control much of Darfur, a region the size of France that has been cut off from the rest of the country for months.
Tom Perriello, new US envoy for Sudan, said on X that military jets Monday raided El-Fasher city in North Darfur, where thousands of civilians from across Darfur have already fled and added across the country, both the military and the RSF continue to obstruct humanitarian assistance and the free movement of civilians.
