At least 35 people were killed and several others wounded when Sudanese army drones struck a traditional court in North Darfur, according to the Emergency Lawyers rights group. The attack hit Garra al-Zawaya village at about 13:00 local time as residents attended proceedings concerning community cases and disputes.
The court operated as a customary institution for resolving local and tribal conflicts. A witness said the session was taking place beneath a tree with local leaders participating. The strike damaged the court building as well as killing people present. Four tribal leaders and two commanders from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces were among the dead, according to the witness, who spoke anonymously for security reasons.
Garra al-Zawaya was under RSF control. It lies near Kabkabiya, roughly 150 kilometres west of el-Fasher, a former Sudanese army stronghold captured by the RSF after a major offensive in October of the previous year. Available reporting attributed the attack to army drones through Emergency Lawyers and did not include a response from Sudan’s armed forces.
Sudan’s civil war began in April 2023 between forces loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and those commanded by RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, formerly his ally. Tens of thousands of people have been killed. The fighting has displaced millions and produced what the United Nations calls the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.
After taking el-Fasher, the RSF consolidated control over much of Darfur. UN investigators said violence associated with the siege and capture bore hallmarks of genocide. The RSF emerged from the Janjaweed, a government-backed militia accused of atrocities in Darfur in the early 2000s. Those findings formed the conflict context but did not change the rights group’s specific account of the court strike.
Both main sides increasingly used drones after the el-Fasher campaign. The UN recorded more than 1,000 civilian deaths from drone strikes during the first five months of 2026. The Garra al-Zawaya toll added another alleged mass-casualty incident involving a gathering at a civilian dispute-resolution venue.
The rights group reported a minimum of 35 deaths. The identity of most victims, the exact number wounded, the weapons used and any military target alleged by the army were not established in initial reporting. Independent confirmation and a response from Sudan’s armed forces would be needed to resolve responsibility and the full toll.
Emergency Lawyers has documented violations attributed to both sides during the war, which is relevant to how its allegation was presented. The account did not treat the group as aligned with the RSF merely because this village was under paramilitary control. Responsibility for the strike remained an attributed finding requiring fuller investigation.
