At least 50 people, including 33 children, were killed when a drone struck a kindergarten in Kalogi town in South Kordofan state, a doctors’ group said. Sudan Doctors’ Network reported that paramedics at the scene were hit in a second, unexpected strike. Rights group Emergency Lawyers said the second attack targeted medics treating survivors and that “a third civilian site near the previous two” was also struck.
Both groups blamed the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for the strikes, condemning them as “a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, including the protection of civilians, especially children and vital civilian infrastructure.” The death toll is expected to rise, but communications blackouts in the area have hindered casualty reporting.
Thursday’s attack is the latest in over two years of fighting between the RSF and the Sudanese military, which has recently concentrated in the oil-rich Kordofan states. UNICEF Representative for Sudan Sheldon Yett called the killing of children at school “a horrific violation of children’s rights,” and urged all parties “to stop these attacks immediately and allow safe and unhindered access for humanitarian assistance to reach those in desperate need.”
Hundreds of civilians have been killed across the Kordofan states in recent weeks as intensified fighting shifted from Darfur after the RSF took over the besieged city of el-Fasher. Sudanese military aerial strikes on Sunday killed at least 48 people, mostly civilians, in Kauda, South Kordofan. UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk warned that Kordofan could face new atrocities similar to those seen in el-Fasher.
