TUE 25 MAR – At least 200 people have been killed and dozens have been seriously injured in an air strike by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in North Darfur, local aid workers told Avaaz. The strike reportedly hit a market in the village of Tora on Monday.

Graphic footage shared with Avaaz showed dozens of charred corpses near a large area of razed, scorched earth, while images on social media showed more bodies, flattened structures, and damaged vehicles.

Aid workers, who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons, said “dead bodies are all over” and that the death toll is expected to rise.

The Emergency Lawyers human rights group said in a statement the strike “targeted an area densely populated with civilians” and constituted a “systematic war crime”. It said SAF was “fully responsible” and called for an independent investigation to “ensure that those responsible for these crimes are held accountable before international courts”. The group also told Avaaz that barrel bombs were used in the attack.

One resident who took part in burial operations in Tora told the AFP that the health facility in the town was not big enough to treat mass casualties and that the security situation would make moving people to the nearby town of Melit difficult.

Darfur is currently controlled almost entirely by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which in a statement called the attack a “brutal crime… against innocent people, in flagrant violation of all international conventions, divine laws, and human values”. The RSF has itself been accused of widespread crimes against civilians, including extrajudicial killings, rape, and torture.