Sudanese paramilitary drone attack kills 50, including 33 children, doctor group says

CAIRO — A drone attack by the Sudanese paramilitary forces hit a kindergarten in south-central Sudan, killing 50 people, including 33 children, a doctors’ group said.

Paramedics on the scene in the town of Kalogi in South Kordofan state were targeted in “a second unexpected attack,” the group said in a statement late Friday.

The death toll is expected to be higher, but communication blackouts in the area have made it difficult to report casualties.

Thursday’s attack is the latest in the fighting between the paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces, also known as the RSF, and the Sudanese military, who have been at war for over two years. It is now concentrating in the oil-rich Kordofan states.

“Killing children in their school is a horrific violation of children’s rights,” said UNICEF Representative for Sudan Sheldon Yett in a statement Friday.

“Children should never pay the price of conflict,” said Yett.

He said UNICEF urges all parties “to stop these attacks immediately and allow safe, unhindered access for humanitarian assistance to reach those in desperate need.”

Hundreds of civilians were killed throughout the Kordofan states in the last few 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 like those in el-Fasher.

RSF’s violent takeover of el-Fasher was marked with executions of civilians, rapes and sexual assaults, and other atrocities. Thousands escaped and thousands more are feared killed or trapped in the city.

The RSF and the Sudanese military have been fighting for power over Sudan since 2023. More than 40,000 people were killed in the war, according to the World Health Organization, and 12 million displaced. However, aid groups say the true death toll could be way higher.