At least 50 people, including 33 children, have been killed in southern Sudan after a drone attack by paramilitary forces hit a nursery in South Kordofan state.
Sudan Doctors’ Network says paramedics on the scene in the town of Kalogi were also targeted by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in a “second unexpected attack”.
Rights group Emergency Lawyers reported a “third civilian site” near the previous two attacks was also targeted.
The death toll is expected to be higher, but communication blackouts have made it difficult to confirm the full number of casualties.
Emergency Lawyers says the strikes are a “flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, including the protection of civilians, especially children, and vital civilian infrastructure.”
UNICEF has urged both parties to stop the attacks immediately and allow safe access for humanitarian aid.
“Killing children in their school is a horrific violation of children’s rights,” said UNICEF representative for Sudan Sheldon Yett.
“Children should never pay the price of conflict.”
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The attack on the nursery is among the latest in the two-year conflict between the RSF and Sudan’s military, where the focus has recently shifted to the oil-rich Kordofan states.
A photo released by UNICEF shows displaced children and families from al-Fashir. (Mohammed Jammal/UNICEF via AP)
Hundreds of civilians have been killed in the last few weeks as fighting shifted from Darfur, following the RSF’s violent takeover of the city of Al Fashir, which was marked with civilians being executed, rapes, sexual assaults and other atrocities.
Thousands managed to escape the violence, but thousands more are trapped or feared killed.
Grab from RSF social media channels in Al Fashir, Sudan
Meanwhile, Sudanese military aerial strikes last weekend killed at least 48 people, mostly civilians, in South Kordofan.
The RSF has also accused the military of carrying out a drone strike on the border with Chad, posting a video showing billowing black smoke.
The Associated Press has been unable to verify the video or whether there were any casualties, while Sudan’s military also hasn’t commented.
The RSF and the Sudanese military have been fighting for power over the country since 2023, which has seen more than 40,000 people killed, according to the World Health Organisation, although the real death toll is expected to be higher. 12 million people have been displaced.
