MASSIVE explosions caused by a drone strike at a market in the Darfur region near Sudan’s border with Chad on Thursday killed four people and wounded more than two dozen civilians, a medical group said.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) blamed the strike on the Sudanese army, saying the drone hit fuel reserves at the Adikong border market in West Darfur, marking the second fatal drone strike in Adikong in less than a month.

Gado Mahamadou, MSF head of mission in Chad, said 23 people were injured, including seven children and four women.

Sudan plunged into war in April 2023 after tensions between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and the army spread across the country.

The UAE is accused of backing the RSF, while Egypt and Saudi Arabia are said to be supporting the military.

The UAE, Egypt and the Saudis all deny any involvement in the conflict.

The devastating war has killed more than 40,000 people, according to United Nations figures, but aid groups say that is an undercount and the true number could be many times higher.

The Sudanese military has not immediately commented on Thursday’s attack, but two military sources said military operations in the area were meant to target the RSF. 

The UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs warned on Thursday that increasing drone strikes across Sudan “are exacting a growing toll on civilians.”

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said on Thursday that he’s appalled by the increasing drone attacks, citing reports that more than 200 civilians have been killed by drones since March 4 in the Kordofan region and in White Nile State.

On Wednesday, an RSF drone hit a secondary school and a healthcare centre in southern Sudan in the White Nile province, killing at least 17 people, mostly schoolgirls.