Sudan’s ongoing civil conflict entered a new phase of deadly escalation on Sunday, when a drone strike attributed to the country’s national army hit a customary court in the North Darfur village of al-Zawiya Ghara, claiming at least 35 lives and leaving multiple others wounded. Al-Zawiya Ghara is among the dozens of rural settlements across North Darfur currently held by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the powerful paramilitary group that has fought the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) for control of the country since April 2023. According to the Emergency Lawyers Group, a civilian watchdog that tracks violence against non-combatants in Sudan, all fatalities and casualties were people located inside the court building or in its immediate surrounding area when the attack unfolded. Local tribal and community leaders were gathered for an official meeting inside the court at the time of the strike, which saw the drone launch at least four separate missiles directly at the structure. Sudanese outlet Sudan Tribune confirmed that the death toll includes two senior RSF field commanders, four tribal elders, and traditional leaders from the Mahameed branch of the Rizeigat ethnic group.
Sunday’s targeted strike comes as the SAF has ramped up drone operations across the Darfur region in recent weeks. The military push follows a string of major SAF victories over RSF forces in North Kordofan, and aims to chip away at RSF control of Darfur by weakening the paramilitary’s command positions and supply lines. In the wake of the attack, the Sudan Founding Coalition (Tasis), a political bloc largely dominated by RSF-aligned figures, formally blamed the SAF for the civilian deaths. Ahmed Tugod Lisan, a spokesperson for Tasis, speaking to Sudan Tribune, called for an independent international investigation into the strike to hold all responsible parties legally accountable. The Emergency Lawyers Group has joined the call for a full probe, and condemned the deliberate targeting of the court, describing attacks on civilian populations and civilian infrastructure as a flagrant and grave violation of binding international humanitarian law. In a formal statement, the group added that drone strikes targeting populated civilian areas and public gatherings have become increasingly common in Sudan’s conflict, drastically raising the daily safety risks for millions of ordinary Sudanese trapped in war zones.
This attack is the latest development in a three-year-long civil conflict that has seen both the SAF and the RSF accused of widespread war crimes and crimes against humanity. A United Nations fact-finding mission concluded that the RSF’s 2025 siege of el-Fasher, one of Darfur’s largest urban centers, carried all the hallmarks of genocide. The RSF has also been repeatedly accused of carrying out drone strikes that kill and maim civilians across Sudan over the course of the war.
The al-Zawiya Ghara strike also follows a landmark judicial ruling earlier in July that marked the first conviction of top RSF leadership since the war began. An anti-terrorism and state crimes court based in Port Sudan, which is held by the SAF, sentenced RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (widely known as Hemedti) and 15 other senior RSF figures to death in absentia. The court convicted the group on multiple charges including their roles in the 2023 assassination of West Darfur Governor Khamis Abdullah Abakar, as well as broader charges of crimes against humanity, war crimes, illegal warfare, and genocide committed in the West Darfur capital of el-Geneina.
Presided over by special judge Mohamed al-Amin, the trial centered largely on the assassination of Governor Abakar, who was killed just one day after he publicly condemned RSF shelling of the el-Jamarik neighborhood in el-Geneina. Circulated online video footage shows RSF soldiers mutilating Abakar’s body after his killing, but the paramilitary group has consistently denied any involvement in the assassination, instead shifting blame to the SAF. Human Rights Watch released a 2024 investigation concluding that the violence carried out in el-Geneina by RSF and allied militias amounted to ethnic cleansing, and likely meets the international legal definition of genocide, targeting the Masalit people and other non-Arab communities in the region. A June 2023 report from Middle East Eye estimated that roughly 1,500 people were killed in el-Geneina in the first two months of the war alone. The violence forced tens of thousands of Masalit residents to flee el-Geneina and West Darfur on foot, seeking safety across the Sudan-Chad border in eastern Chad.
Among the convicted defendants are Hemedti’s two brothers: Abdel Rahim Hamdan Dagalo, the RSF’s deputy leader, and Algoney Hamdan Daglo Musa, commonly known as al-Qoni. The court also convicted Abdel Rahman Juma Barkallah, the top RSF commander for West Darfur, and al-Tijani al-Tahir Karshoum, the former deputy governor of West Darfur. The ruling held Hemedti directly legally responsible for directing the genocide of the Masalit people and orchestrating the siege of el-Geneina, citing evidence of systematic destruction and looting of civilian property, as well as deliberate targeted attacks on non-combatants, residential neighborhoods, schools, and places of worship. Abdel Rahim Dagalo was convicted of co-organizing the el-Geneina siege, mass civilian displacement, and the genocide of the Masalit community, while Qoni was found liable for facilitating the siege. Barkallah was held responsible for leading frontline RSF troops during coordinated systematic assaults on Masalit residential areas. In addition to the death sentences, the court ordered the full confiscation of all RSF-linked assets across SAF-held territory, and instructed Sudanese authorities to request Interpol red notices to facilitate the arrest and extradition of all convicted figures who remain at large.