Sudan market drone strike: medics count 21 dead, rights group says 102

The drone hit the Tanqouj night market, also spelled Tanqong, in Nyala's Doumaya district at about 8 p.m. local time on Monday 26 October. Doctors Without Borders says a second strike also landed on a civilian neighbourhood. No independent body has verified any death toll, and the figures coming out of western Sudan pull hard in different directions.

Doctors Without Borders said on Tuesday 27 October that Nyala Teaching Hospital, which it supports, had taken in 36 bodies, 21 of them people in civilian clothing, and that its teams saw more than 150 wounded patients. Its project coordinator in Nyala, Dale Koninckx, said staff worked around the clock and are very shaken. She added: “Markets, homes, and key civilian infrastructure are not targets. All parties to the conflict must protect civilians.”

Doctors put the preliminary toll at 21 dead and more than 40 injured, a count a Nyala hospital medic gave Tuesday and the Sudan Doctors Network repeated Wednesday while warning identities are still being verified under security limits. Emergency Lawyers said Tuesday that more than 100 people died and 113 were wounded, then settled on 102 dead Wednesday. The Tasis alliance's health ministry announced the same 102 dead and 113 injured, so the two counts may not be independent at all.

Doctors Without Borders, Emergency Lawyers and the Tasis alliance all point the finger at the Sudanese army. Mohamed Didan, spokesperson for the Special Operations Forces, a unit fighting alongside the army, said instead that an air strike hit an RSF camp in Doumaya and killed more than 150 recruits — his statement, as published, never mentions the market. No statement from the army command or the RSF on the toll had surfaced by Wednesday afternoon.

The numbers may also split because they count different things, from bodies at one hospital to tolls announced by a party to the war. Residents and medical staff say many victims were buried without ever reaching a hospital. The Sudan Doctors Network names no attacker and is calling for an independent, transparent investigation; none had been announced by Wednesday afternoon. Nyala, capital of South Darfur, is held by the Rapid Support Forces, the paramilitary group fighting the army since April 2023, and the UN human rights office said on Friday 23 October that drone strikes attributed to both sides killed at least 306 people across Sudan in the first three weeks of October.

For Americans watching from a distance, the State Department keeps Sudan at Level 4, its highest warning, telling citizens not to travel there because of unrest, crime, kidnapping, terrorism, landmines and health threats. Over on Polymarket, traders betting real money gave a ceasefire deal between the army and the RSF by 31 December 2026 roughly a 10% chance at 1:43 p.m. ET Wednesday — with only about $15,100 traded so far.