Deadly attack on kindergarten reported in Sudan

It is said that a kindergarten was targeted in the drone attack on the town of Kalogi in the South Kordofan region of Sudan and at least 50 people, including 33 children, died.

Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the paramilitary group fighting the army in Sudan’s civil war, was blamed for Thursday’s attack by a medical organisation, the Sudan Doctors Network and the army.

There is no comment from RSF yet.

In response, RSF accused the army of hitting a market in the Darfur region on Friday by launching a drone attack on a fuel depot at the Adre border crossing with Chad.

Sudan has been wracked by war since April 2023, when a power struggle broke out between the RSF and the army, which were previously allies.

The reports could not be independently verified.

The kindergarten was hit twice by drones, according to the military-linked foreign ministry.

It was stated that civilians and healthcare workers who flocked to the school were also attacked.

Responding to reports of the attack in Kalogi, a spokesman for the UN children’s agency Unicef ​​said: “Killing children in their schools is an appalling violation of children’s rights.”

“Children should never have to pay the price of conflict,” Sheldon Yett added.

The agency said it called on “all parties to immediately stop these attacks and allow safe, unimpeded access of humanitarian aid to those in desperate need.”

RSF accused the army of attacking the Adre crossing point because it was used for “distribution of aid and commercial supplies.”

The attack caused civilian casualties and significant damage to the market, according to Sudan War Monitor, a group of researchers tracking the conflict.

The military did not immediately comment on the reports from Darfur.

The region consisting of North Kordofan, South Kordofan and West Kordofan, squeezed between Sudan’s capital Khartoum and Darfur, became the front line in the civil war.

As the army advanced towards Darfur, conflicts intensified for the Kordofans, whose population is approximately eight million.