Fifteen civilians were killed and several others injured after a drone strike hit a gathering of mourners during a burial ceremony in South Kordofan, in what local leaders described as a devastating attack on unarmed civilians far removed from any fighting.
Bukhari Mohammed al Zubair, the head of the Hawazma tribe in Al Qoz locality, said the strike occurred on Wednesday as residents were attending the burial of a man who had died of natural causes. The attack targeted mourners at a cemetery in the Al Ruweikiba area, one of the pastoral regions inhabited by the Hawazma community.
According to the tribal leader, the drone strike was carried out by SAF. He described the incident as a “tragic catastrophe”, stressing that those targeted were civilians engaged in a funeral ritual, not participants in any armed conflict. The strike occurred while people were gathered at the cemetery to perform burial and condolence rites.
The attack resulted in the deaths of 15 people, identified as Ghanai Hamid Othman, Taha Hamid al Fadl Othman, al Tayeb Rahma al Fadl Rahma, Ahmed Rahma al Fadl Rahma, Ali Mohammed al Sheikh Hamid, Zakaria Abdullah Abdul al Rijal, Abdullah Mohammed al Khair al Imam, al Shafie Ma’ani Hamid, Wali al Din Bakhit Hamid, Mohammed al Shafie Bakhit Hamid, al Shafie Abu Hali Mahi, Hamid Bakhit Ahmed Bakhit, Hussein Adam al Fadil, al Fadil al Hadi Hamid, and Hamad al Hadi Hamad. A large number of others were wounded, some critically.
The Hawazma leader called for justice for the victims and accountability for those responsible, demanding urgent measures to protect civilians and an immediate end to attacks on non combatants.
The incident adds to a growing list of allegations against SAF over the use of aerial weapons in civilian areas, raising serious questions about the conduct of the war and the systematic erosion of protections for civilians. Targeting a funeral gathering, one of the most sacred and communal moments in Sudanese society, underscores the extent to which the conflict has stripped civilian life of any sense of safety or sanctity.
