
General al-Burhan’s army (SAF) has intensified its aerial bombardment of Nyala, the capital of South Darfur state, launching airstrikes for the fourth consecutive day, eyewitnesses said Monday.
On Sunday, an SAF warplane dropped barrel bombs on a marketplace and several residential neighborhoods in eastern Nyala, killing dozens of civilians and injuring many others, according to local sources.
Sudanese journalist Abu Ubaida Barghouth told Erm News that the bombardment is part of the SAF’s strategy to target communities perceived as supporting its adversaries. “The Sudanese military has repeatedly used this approach against groups that oppose its rule,” he said.
Barghouth accused the SAF of deliberately attacking civilians to force displacement and collective punishment. “This is about driving people out, destroying their livelihoods, and ensuring they have no means to survive except through humanitarian aid,” he said.
He likened the current attacks to those carried out by the SAF in Darfur during the early 2000s, when armed groups rebelled against the central government. “The army used scorched-earth tactics then, displacing nearly six million people who remain in refugee and internally displaced persons (IDP) camps to this day,” he added.
Widespread Displacement
Nyala, one of Sudan’s largest cities, has been a focal point of intensified air raids, with residents reporting as many as four to five airstrikes daily. The bombings have destroyed homes, markets, hospitals, and public infrastructure, despite the city’s dense civilian population.
In addition to Nyala, the SAF has also targeted the town of Kuma in North Darfur, residents say. Human rights groups have accused General al-Burhan and his SAF of indiscriminately bombing towns and villages suspected of harboring support for Sudanese Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
A Systematic Strategy
Rights organizations monitoring the conflict, including The Advocacy Group for Darfur Victims, have denounced the bombings as part of a calculated effort to dismantle Darfur’s social and economic fabric. “These airstrikes are not random. They are part of a deliberate strategy aimed at destroying local economies and displacing entire communities,” the group said in a statement.
The legal advocacy group Emergency Lawyers has also condemned the air raids, saying the SAF’s repeated use of barrel bombs on residential areas in Nyala—such as the neighborhoods of Al-Matar, Al-Rahman, and Al-Masani—amounts to a war crime.
“These attacks go beyond military objectives,” the organization said in a statement. “They are part of a sustained escalation, disproving claims that the strikes only target armed groups.”
The group warned that the bombing of civilian infrastructure violates international humanitarian law, including the 1949 Geneva Conventions and their additional protocols, which prohibit attacks on civilians and civilian objects during armed conflicts.
The ongoing airstrikes in Darfur have exacerbated an already dire humanitarian crisis, with thousands of civilians fleeing their homes daily. Human rights observers warn that the SAF’s scorched-earth tactics mirror past atrocities in the region, which led to one of the worst humanitarian disasters of the 21st century.
As violence escalates, calls for accountability are growing. However, with Sudan’s conflict showing no signs of resolution, civilians in Nyala and beyond remain trapped in an increasingly deadly war.