Over 30 Civilians Killed in Drone Strike on Sudan Wedding
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric denounced the Wednesday attack in unequivocal terms during a Thursday briefing, declaring it "unacceptable" and warning that civilians continue to "bear the brunt" of the spiraling violence engulfing the African nation.
"Civilians and civilian infrastructure must be protected in line with international humanitarian law. In South Kordofan, clashes around the town of Dilling since last Monday have reportedly killed 47 civilians and injured dozens more," Dujarric said.
Local rights group Emergency Lawyers, which has been actively monitoring the war, confirmed the drone struck the gathering on Wednesday and issued a blistering condemnation, labeling the assault a "heinous crime."
No party has stepped forward to claim responsibility for the strike. Drone attacks have grown alarmingly frequent throughout the conflict, with both the national army and the paramilitary forces facing accusations of deliberately targeting civilian areas.
The deadly strike represents merely the latest atrocity in Sudan's devastating nearly three-year civil war, which the UN estimates has claimed more than 40,000 lives. The UN refugee agency has characterized the conflict as the catalyst for the world's largest displacement crisis, with approximately 15.3 million people forcibly uprooted from their homes.
The scale of drone violence against civilians has been staggering. The UN human rights office reported in March that more than 500 civilians perished in drone strikes nationwide between January 1 and March 15 alone, with the Kordofan region recording the heaviest toll.
The carnage extends to medical infrastructure as well. Last month, the World Health Organization reported that a drone strike on Al Deain Teaching Hospital in East Darfur killed 70 people — including women, children, and medical personnel — putting out of service a critical facility that had been serving a population of more than 2 million.
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