More than 100 civilians killed in drone attacks in war-torn Kordofan, Sudan. sudan war news

The fighting has intensified as the humanitarian crisis deepens, with cholera spreading and large-scale displacement.

At least 104 civilians have been killed in drone attacks in Sudan’s Kordofan region as fighting between rival military factions has reached deadly new heights in a brutal civil war in its third year.

Attacks have ravaged the central region since early December, after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) captured a key military base in Babanusa following a week of intense fighting.

The surge has displaced thousands of people and strained health facilities already overwhelmed by cholera and dengue outbreaks, as the main fighting has shifted from Darfur in the west to the vast central region of Kordofan.

The deadliest attack was on a kindergarten and a hospital in Kalogi, South Kordofan, where 89 people were killed, including 43 children and eight women. UN human rights chief Volker Turk said he was “concerned by the further intensity of the hostilities” and warned that targeting medical facilities is a violation of international humanitarian law.

On 13 December, six Bangladeshi peacekeepers serving with the United Nations mission were killed in a drone attack on their base in Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres denounced the “appalling drone attacks”, stating that attacks on peacekeepers “may constitute war crimes under international law”.

A day later, the Dilling Military Hospital came under fire, with varying numbers of casualties. The Sudan Doctors Network reported nine deaths and 17 injuries, calling it “systematic targeting of health institutions”.

UN officials said six people were killed and 12 were injured, many of whom were medical workers.

The government-aligned Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) have blamed the RSF for the attacks, although the paramilitary group has not responded to the allegations.

The epidemic is increasing

The violence has caused serious humanitarian consequences beyond the immediate death toll. North Kordofan’s Health Minister Iman Malik said the state has recorded 13,609 cases of cholera and 730 cases of dengue fever.

with 30 per cent of health facilities no longer functioning due to the conflict.

More than 40,000 people have fled North Kordofan, while civilians remain stranded in besieged towns, including Kadugli and Dilling.

In nearby Heglig, which the RSF captured before handing it over to South Sudanese forces under a tripartite agreement with the army, about 2,000 people were displaced into White Nile state.

The fighting in Kordofan represents a significant expansion of the conflict after the RSF captured al-Fashar, the army’s last stronghold in Darfur, in October.

Researchers at the Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL) found in a new report that the RSF killed civilians trying to flee the city, then began destroying evidence by systematically burying, burning, and disposing of the bodies.

The increase comes as international peacekeeping efforts have resumed. SAF chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on 15 December and expressed his desire to work with United States President Donald Trump on peace efforts.

The next day, Egypt and the US jointly rejected “any attempts to divide Sudan” and called for a comprehensive ceasefire.

Sudan has topped the International Rescue Committee’s emergency watch list for three years in a row. More than 40,000 people have been killed in the war that began in April 2023, according to UN figures, although aid groups believe the real toll is far higher.

Well over 14 million people have been displaced in what the United Nations calls the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.