“They were cut into pieces.” Sudan airstrikes tear through Nyala civilians – HRW

12 June 2025

On 4 June, Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a damning report documenting a series of Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) airstrikes between November 2024 and February 2025 that killed dozens of civilians and injured dozens more in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur. The organisation accuses the SAF of using unguided ammunition in densely populated residential areas, describing the attacks as a likely violation of international humanitarian law. 

Since the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) seized control of Nyala in late October 2023, the SAF has repeatedly targeted the city with aerial bombardments. Before the current conflict, Nyala was Sudan’s most populated city, with over 800,000 residents. 

“The Sudanese military has hit densely populated residential and commercial neighbourhoods in Nyala using inaccurate bombs,” said Jean-Baptiste Gallopin, senior crisis, conflict, and arms researcher at HRW. “These attacks have killed scores of men, women, and children, destroyed families, and caused fear and displacement.” 

SAF bombed civilians in Nyala 

In just three days between 2 – 4 February 2025, as many as 74 civilians were killed from airstrikes, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED). HRW marked 3 February as one of the deadliest days, with five strikes hitting densely populated areas, including Al-Jumhuriya, Al-Cinema, and Congo Road. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reported 32 people killed and dozens more injured on that fateful day. 

One strike near the Mecca Eye Hospital hit a grocery store on a busy street. “[The] place was completely destroyed and damaged by the airstrike,” said the man who arrived at the scene shortly afterward. “Many people were killed.”  

A day labourer from Nyala described to HRW the moments before an airstrike killed his sister and nephew as they walked together through their neighbourhood. He said they had just left their home when they noticed a plane overhead and saw people around them begin to panic. “I was only 10 metres away from my house when I saw the airplane, and the people started to run around scared… There was some panic and people didn’t know whether to stay outside or try to hide… Everybody started to run around. And then I said to my sister that we had to hide.”

The man said he was walking slightly ahead of his sister and his nephew when the bomb fell. “I was a little bit ahead of [my sister and nephew] when the strike happened and killed them.” He told HRW they were “literally cut into pieces”. He himself sustained an injury to his leg. He added that he had not seen any RSF presence in the area prior to the strike. 

Indiscriminate attacks

According to HRW, the SAF intensified airstrikes on Nyala coincided with reports that the RSF had begun using Nyala airport as a drone base, with large cargo planes reportedly landing there. While HRW noted that the RSF’s use of the airport for military purposes makes it a legitimate military target – the use of unguided, air-dropped munitions in civilian areas violates the laws of war and could amount to war crimes.

“The bombing was random at first—one airstrike hit four civilian homes at one in the Al-Jir neighbourhood, west of the army headquarters, forcing families to flee to other areas,” said Sara*, a human rights activist in Nyala, speaking to Ayin. “Explosive barrels also fell on streets, especially along Jebel Marra road, with more than five blasts in one area.” These indiscriminate attacks have subsided, however, she added. “While the strikes were indiscriminate in the beginning, over the past three months they’ve become more targeted, focusing on RSF sites, weapon depots, and other military storage facilities.

The Sudanese Army Spokesperson, Brigadier General Nabil Abdallah, claimed HRW’s findings were “untrue and detached from reality” and he criticised the report for ignoring “atrocities and violations committed by the RSF against civilians.”

Not just Nyala  

The SAF’s warplanes are not only indiscriminately bombing Nyala but any location with a suspected RSF presence. In Omdurman, for instance, an airstrike on a market in July 2023 killed more than 20 civilians. Satellite images taken after the attack showed charred vehicles and cratered streets, consistent with the use of aerial bombs. 

Meanwhile, the RSF has been implicated in a separate wave of atrocities, particularly where fighters have allegedly carried out ethnically targeted massacres of non-Arab civilians. The violence has forced over 1.8 million people to flee Darfur since April 2023, adding to Sudan’s growing humanitarian crisis. 

Nyala itself has seen waves of displacement. According to the International Organisation for Migration, more than 300,000 people have fled the city since fighting began; many are taking refuge in makeshift camps or fleeing across the border to Chad. 

HRW urges halt to deadly airstrikes

HRW has called on the SAF to immediately halt all indiscriminate attacks, including the use of unguided air-dropped bombs on populated areas. The rights group urged other governments to follow the European Union’s lead in sanctioning Sudan’s air force leadership for its role in these attacks. It also pressed Sudanese authorities to allow access for international monitors, including the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the UN Fact-Finding Mission, to investigate violations committed by all parties to the conflict. 

“Despite international expressions of concern, civilians continue to bear the brunt of Sudan’s devastating two-year-old war,” Gallopin said. “Other countries need to take concerted action to protect civilians and prevent further indiscriminate attacks by investigating and sanctioning those responsible on all sides.”