SalaaMedia Report
The second paragraph of the Jeddah Declaration of Humanitarian Principles stipulates that the parties to the conflict must respect International Humanitarian Law and International Humanitarian Rights Law, including distinguishing at all times between civilians and combatants and between civilian objects and military objectives, and refraining from any attack that is expected to cause incidental civilian damage that is excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated. Despite this, the airstrikes of the armed forces since the beginning of the war in Sudan on the 15th of April 2023, have continued to target various towns and states of Sudan, including Darfur, causing loss of life, properties, and infrastructural facilities.
This report highlights the bombing operations that South Darfur State was subjected to and the resulting loss of life, property, and civilian objects during the period from July to December 2024.
South Darfur State witnessed four airstrikes during the last two months, which were concentrated on the neighborhoods of Nyala town, with most of the airstrikes occurring at night or in the early morning hours.
Organizations’ data and press reports indicated that most of these raids were carried out by Antonov aircrafts, as these aircrafts dropped more than eight barrels on Nyala airport alone in the last bombing of the town.
Civilian Casualties
By tracking the data, air strikes that hit the town, Nyala had the highest number of victims of air strikes among the towns of the region since the beginning of the war. During the period from July until the writing this report, a number of civilians were killed and injured as a result of the bombing; on September 16, 8 people were killed and 25 others were injured, according to Darfur24. In the same context, the African Center for Justice and Peace Studies stated that detainees by the Rapid Support Forces at the headquarters of the former intelligence service in the town where subjected to bombing inside the headquarters by the armed forces’ aircraft. When the African Center for Justice and Peace Studies spoke to a survivor who fled the NISS building after the attack by the armed forces on 16 September 2024, the survivor said: “I was detained in NISS with more than 50 other detainees. Among the detainees were civilians and members of the Rapid Support Forces who were arrested and detained on charges of indiscipline. On that, a bomb fell in the courtyard in the middle of the building, destroying some parts of the building and killing 16 detainees, including five civilians.”
Targeting Infrastructure
The armed forces’ warplanes targeted vital infrastructure in the town, where bombing operations targeted Nyala Maternity and Gynecology Hospital, the main gas center Nyala, and the former headquarters of the General Intelligence Service, and the most recently, the bombing of Nyala Airport. Images verified by our team showed widespread destruction at the airport, in addition to the collapse of the hall.
The Reactions
There were mixed internal and external reactions to the airstrikes on towns where there were no battles, including the town of Nyala, where the United Civil Forces announced in a statement their solidarity with victims of the airstrikes, calling on the international community to fulfill its responsibilities towards protecting civilians and banning warplanes in all towns and areas where there were no military battles. In the same context, the Coordination of Democratic Civil Forces (Tagdom) condemned the airstrikes carried out by the armed forces’ aircraft and announced its solidarity with the victims, while the Sudan Liberation Movement-transitional Council called on the two parties to the conflict to stop targeting the country’s infrastructure and vital areas; the movement called on the international community to ban fights in Sudan. Despite this, the bombing continues amid a deadlock in the horizon and the failure of all rounds of peace called for by the international, regional, and local communities. On the contrary, the pace of fighting between the two parties to the conflict has increased as the Rapid Support Forces intensified their attack on the town of Al-Fashir, which exacerbated the humanitarian crisis amid demands by the United Nations organizations for the Rapid Support Forces to stop the attack on Al-Fashir. At the same time, the Sudanese army intensified its air strikes on all towns in the region, as the Conflict Event Data Project recorded 50 air strikes by the Sudanese Army Forces in all Darfur States between August 1 and September 6. 2024.
By following the data contained in this report and comparing it with the texts of the Jeddah Declaration of Humanitarian Principles that signed between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, which generally stipulates that both parties to the conflict are committed to International Humanitarian Law and International Humanitarian Rights Law, by: “ Distinguishing at all times between civilians and combatants and between civilian objects and military objectives, and refraining from any attack that is expected to cause incidental civilian damage that is excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated.” We find that both parties have violated this agreement between them and the aforementioned international covenant.
While the Armed Forces are bombing civilian neighborhoods inhabited by civilians through warplanes, in addition to bombing health and service facilities such as the maternity hospital and the main gas center, in return, the Rapid Support Forces are carrying out ground military operations and artillery shelling on the same sites. The final result on the ground is the exacerbation of the humanitarian crisis in the region and the expansion of its geographical and social scope, which required urgent intervention by the international community in order to stop this war and protect civilians by implementing the Security Council Resolution on Darfur.