The Emergency Lawyers group, which documents abuses by both sides in Sudan's three-year civil war, said the strike on Sunday hit a court in the village of Garra al-Zawaya in North Darfur state at around 1 p.m. local time (11 a.m. GMT).
According to the group, civilians had gathered to attend hearings on local disputes when the attack occurred. The village is under the control of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The court, a traditional institution used to resolve local and tribal disputes, was also damaged in the attack. A regional witness, speaking anonymously for safety reasons, said the session was held under a tree with community elders present. The witness also said those killed included four tribal leaders and two RSF commanders.
Garra al-Zawaya lies near the town of Kabkabiya, about 150 km west of el-Fasher, the army's last stronghold in Darfur, which the RSF captured after a bloody assault in October last year. UN investigators have said the violence surrounding the siege and capture of el-Fasher by the RSF bore the hallmarks of genocide.
The war, which began in April 2023 between forces loyal to RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo and his former ally, army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has killed tens of thousands of people. After seizing the city, the RSF—which grew out of the government-backed Janjaweed militia accused of atrocities in Darfur in the early 2000s—consolidated control over much of the region.
Since that campaign, both sides have increasingly relied on drone warfare. According to the UN, more than 1,000 civilians have been killed in drone strikes in the first five months of this year. The conflict has also displaced millions and created what the UN describes as the world's largest humanitarian crisis.
