At least 31 people were killed in an army airstrike on a mosque in Wad Madani, a town in central Sudan, a local pro-democracy group reported on Tuesday October 22. The attack took place after evening prayers Sunday in Al-Jazeera state, just south of Khartoum, the Wad Madani Resistance Committee reported.
This group, which organizes mutual aid among residents amid the ongoing conflict, stated that more than half of the victims remain unidentified as rescuers continue to search through “dozens of charred and mutilated remains.” The committee accused the army of using “barrel bombs,” makeshift explosive devices packed into barrels, in the assault.
Wad Madani has become a battleground in the escalating conflict between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), who took control of much of the agricultural state of Al-Jazeera in late 2023. The area has seen intense fighting between the two factions, led by General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo of the RSF and General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the army’s leader and Sudan’s de facto head of state.
Since April 2023, Sudan has been gripped by a brutal civil war between the RSF and the army. Both sides have been accused of committing war crimes, including targeting civilians and blocking humanitarian aid. The ongoing conflict has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 10 million people, according to the United Nations.