CAIRO — A drone strike on a bustling market in central Sudan on Tuesday killed 28 people and wounded dozens more, a local rights group said, part of the war that has devastated the country since 2023.

The Emergency Lawyers, a local rights group that tracks violations committed during the conflict, said on X that the market in the town of Ghubaysh in West Kordofan province was targeted in Tuesday morning when it was overcrowded with civilians. The group blamed the army for the strike.

A full-scale war broke out in April 2023 after long-simmering tensions between the army and its rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces escalated. The RSF controls West Kordofan.

An official with Sudan’s army told The Associated Press the army doesn’t target civilians or civilian infrastructure. Another military source also denied the group’s claims, stating that an army drone struck two RSF combat vehicles near the market while they were refueling, completely destroying the vehicles and killing those inside without causing any civilian casualties.

The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to brief the media. There was no immediate comment from the RSF.

Thousands across West Kordofan and nearby areas rely on the market in Ghubaysh for food and essential supplies, according to the Emergency Lawyers.

The conflict in Sudan has killed at least 59,000 people, displaced some 13 million and pushed many parts of the country into famine. More than 30 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance.

Drone warfare has become the deadliest threat to civilians in Sudan ’s conflict and both the military and the RSF are being supplied by a number of countries in the Middle East and beyond.

United Nations human rights chief Volker Türk recently called for measures to prevent their transfer to Sudan. Drones killed at least 880 civilians between January and April, according to the U.N.

Both the army and RSF use drones to secure contested territory, disrupt mobilization efforts and spread insecurity in areas controlled by rivals, Türk said. Most recently, the RSF carried out drone attacks on Khartoum International Airport and other areas near the Sudanese capital, which the army seized control of last year.

At least 2,670 people, including combatants and civilians, were killed in 2025, marking a 600% increase in drone-related deaths and an 81% increase in drone attacks compared to the previous year, the U.S.-based Armed Conflict Location & Event Data project found.

Analysts say advanced drones supplied by foreign actors have allowed the warring sides to intensify attacks on densely populated areas, deepening the conflict and fueling fears of a wider proxy war.

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Associated Press writer Yassir Abdalla in Shendi, Sudan contributed to this report.