The Emergency Lawyers group said the strike hit the court at about 1:00 pm local time as civilians had gathered to attend hearings on local cases and disputes. The village is under the control of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, who have been locked in a brutal conflict with the army since April 2023.
The court session was being held under a tree with the participation of local community leaders, a witness from the area told AFP on condition of anonymity for safety reasons. Among those killed were four tribal leaders and two RSF commanders, the witness added.
A Civilian Facility Under Attack
The Emergency Lawyers group condemned the targeting of the court, describing it as a civilian facility that plays a judicial and social role in the region. The attack caused significant damage to the court building, which served as a venue for resolving local disputes and tribal conflicts.
Directing attacks against civilians and civilian objects constitutes a grave violation of international humanitarian law, the group said in a statement, calling for an investigation into the strike.
The RSF's self-declared government condemned the attack as a horrific crime, saying 37 people had been killed and 50 others wounded. There was no immediate response from the Sudanese army.
Drone Warfare Escalates
Garra al-Zawaya lies near the town of Kabkabiya in North Darfur, about 150 kilometres west of El-Fasher, the army's last stronghold in Darfur before it was captured by the RSF in a bloody offensive last October. United Nations investigators have said violence linked to the RSF siege and capture of El-Fasher bore the hallmarks of genocide.
Following its takeover of the city, the RSF, which emerged from the Janjaweed militia accused of atrocities in Darfur in the early 2000s, consolidated control over much of the region.
Since the El-Fasher campaign, both sides have increasingly relied on drone warfare. According to the United Nations, more than 1,000 civilians were killed in drone strikes during the first five months of this year. Drone strikes are now the leading cause of death in Sudan, accounting for 80 percent of civilian deaths during the first four months of 2026.
A Broader Pattern of Violence
The attack follows a pattern of escalating drone warfare across Sudan. Last week, after losing control of a key highway linking Khartoum and El-Obeid, RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo released a video message telling his fighters to consider themselves unleashed in their war against the army.
El-Obeid, the largest city in the southern Kordofan region, has come under intense drone attacks in recent weeks, prompting the UN to issue a red alert over the unfolding catastrophe there, where the RSF has sought to reimpose a blockade and is feared to be preparing a ground offensive.
The war between Daglo and his former ally, army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced millions and created what the United Nations describes as the world's largest hunger and displacement crises.
With reporting from AFP, Reuters, and the United Nations.
