The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has again called for greater protection of civilians in war-torn Sudan following deadly army airstrikes in North Darfur earlier this week.
Volker Türk issued a statement on Wednesday saying he was deeply shocked by reports that hundreds of civilians were killed, and scores injured, in the 24 March strikes on a busy market in Tora Village.
The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and a rival military known as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been at war for nearly two years.
On Wednesday, international media reported that the army had recaptured the capital, Khartoum, which had mostly been under RSF control since fighting erupted in April 2023.
The army recaptured the presidential palace last Friday and is now reportedly in control of all the bridges across the River Nile which connect the different areas of the capital area.
Indiscriminate killings continue
The UN rights chief said his Office, OHCHR, learned that 13 of those killed in Monday's airstrikes belonged to a single family, and that some of the injured are also reportedly dying due to the extremely limited access to healthcare.
OHCHR have also received reports that in the aftermath of the attack, members of the RSF arbitrarily arrested and detained civilians in Tora.
Both the RSF and Government forces have been accused of indiscriminately shelling civilian areas during the brutal conflict.
"Despite my repeated warnings and appeals to both the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces to protect civilians in line with international humanitarian law, civilians continue to be killed indiscriminately, maimed and mistreated on a near daily basis, while civilian objects remain an all-too-frequent target," said Mr. Türk.
He once again urged both parties to take all measures to avoid harming civilians and attacking civilian objects.
The High Commissioner warned that Indiscriminate attacks and attacks against civilians, and civilian objects, are unacceptable and may constitute war crimes.
"There must be full accountability for violations committed in this latest attack, and the many other attacks against civilians that have preceded it. Such conduct must never become normalized," he said.
