Survivors of the recent military aircraft bombing at the Malja market, situated north of Nyala town in South Darfur State, have recounted the tragic scenes of the incident that claimed the lives of their friends just ten days ago.
Ten-year-old Mohammed Musa shared a particularly harrowing experience in an interview with Radio Tamazuj, narrating how his friend, a shoe shiner named Kasha, was in the market when an explosive barrel dropped near him.
Musa said, “Kasha spent two days in a coma under the sand but did not die.” Fortunately, Kasha received treatment for his injuries.
Iman Mohammed Saddiq, a tea vendor, revealed that the explosion resulted in the deaths of some of her customers, with two bodies lying next to her stall. Saddiq called for an end to the conflict in Sudan and questioned the senseless violence against civilians: “Airplanes bombed citizens in the market at a time when there was no member of the Rapid Support Forces present in the area.”
Reports indicated that the bombing led to the loss of 26 lives that day, with an additional 25 people injured.
Nyala resident Tahir Shumu explained that the attack resulted in the destruction of 40 shops, leaving their owners without a source of livelihood. The aftermath of the bombing was so devastating that some of the deceased had to be retrieved from under the wreckage. Shumu also pointed out that they found a man’s head entangled in the branches of a nearby tree that had been destroyed by the shelling.
“We managed to take more than 20 injuries and about 17 deaths,” Shumu told Radio Tamazuj.
The artillery shelling and aerial bombardment forced residents of several neighborhoods, including Al-Mazad, High Dam, Cinema, Al-Wadi, and Al-Jumhuriya, to flee Nyala and seek refuge in the cities of Al-Fasher, Al-Daein, and other localities in South Darfur State.
Last week, the United States expressed concerns after reports that the Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have intensified shelling in Nyala town of South Darfur and Omdurman City.
Fighting between the Sudanese army and the RSF erupted on April 15 over tensions linked to a planned transition to civilian rule. It has devastated the capital Khartoum and sparked ethnically driven attacks in Darfur.