Sudan’s Emergency Lawyers group has accused General al-Burhan’s SAF of dropping explosive barrels on civilian areas in North Kordofan, wounding dozens of people and killing livestock near a water source.
The group said an Antonov aircraft belonging to the SAF struck the areas of Um Dubaib and Al Zaraf, north of Um Badr locality, at around 10:20 a.m. on Monday.
According to the lawyers’ group, dozens of civilians were wounded in Um Dubaib, including children and herders who were gathered near a local water point. The strike also killed a number of livestock, worsening the impact on families already dependent on animals for survival.
Al Zaraf, described as an artisanal mining area, was also hit in the same attack, the group said.
Emergency Lawyers said both areas were civilian sites and had no military presence at the time of the bombing. It condemned the use of barrel bombs in populated areas, saying such attacks violate core principles of international humanitarian law, including distinction and proportionality.
The group warned that the strikes could amount to a war crime if legal responsibility is established, and called for an immediate halt to attacks on civilian areas and the use of weapons with indiscriminate effects.
It also urged the United Nations and international actors to take urgent steps to protect civilians, ensure humanitarian access and open independent investigations into violations.
The accusation came as the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North also blamed the SAF for drone attacks on civilian areas in the New Funj region.
In a statement issued Monday, the SPLM-N said a drone strike hit Injili, in Kurmuk county, destroying the home of local chief Habil Malkal and wounding eight civilians, including three women and an eight-year-old child.
The movement said similar attacks had previously targeted Yabus and Balila, adding that the repeated targeting of civilians represented a breach of international humanitarian law.
Sudan’s war, now in its fourth year, has seen repeated accusations of indiscriminate shelling, airstrikes and drone attacks across civilian areas, particularly in Kordofan, Darfur and Blue Nile. Rights groups have repeatedly warned that civilians are paying the heaviest price as the conflict spreads beyond major battlefronts.
