Sudan accuses RSF of killing 79 civilians in West Kordofan drone strike

The Sudanese Foreign Ministry accused the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on Friday of killing 79 civilians, including 43 children, in "a massacre" in the city of Kalogi in South Kordofan state.

A ministry statement said the attack was "part of an ongoing campaign of genocide carried out by the terrorist Rapid Support Forces militia against Sudanese communities." It said the Thursday strike killed 79 civilians, including 43 children and six women.

The ministry said "the militia targeted a kindergarten with rockets launched from a drone with the aim of killing a large number of children."

When residents rushed to help the injured, the RSF "targeted the kindergarten again, killing more people, including children who were not hurt in the first strike," the statement added.

The ministry said RSF fighters "chased victims and medics" at the rural hospital where the wounded were transferred, raising the death toll to 79 and leaving 38 injured.

The attack marked "an unprecedented act of terror against children and the wounded," it added, saying even "the most brutal extremist groups" had not done anything similar.

The assault, according to the statement, "offers new evidence that the militia interprets the international community's silence as encouragement and approval of its continuing atrocities."

The ministry added that "the militia's backers, the UN Security Council and international actors bear responsibility for the continuation of these massacres." It said the events show "there is no path to coexistence with this terrorist militia, which lacks basic humanity and respect for any norm or law."

There was no comment from the rebel group on the attack.

On Thursday, the South Kordofan state government said eight people, including six children and a teacher, were killed when a kindergarten and a hospital in Kaluqi were targeted, with many others wounded.

The three Kordofan states-North, West, and South-have seen weeks of fierce fighting between the army and the RSF, prompting tens of thousands of people to flee.

Of Sudan's 18 states, the RSF controls all five states of the Darfur region in the west, except for some northern parts of North Darfur that remain under army control. The army, in turn, holds most areas of the remaining 13 states in the south, north, east, and center, including the capital, Khartoum.

The conflict between the Sudanese army and the RSF, which began in April 2023, has killed thousands of people and displaced millions of others.