Sudan’s South Kordofan state has witnessed a devastating attack by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), who struck a pre-school and several other civilian sites in Kalogi locality, killing at least 116 people.
Among those killed were 46 children attending the pre-school, according to the executive director of the locality, according to Al Jazeera.
Two military officials from the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), which remains aligned with the government, confirmed to Al Jazeera that the RSF first targeted the kindergarten on Thursday.
They said that after the initial massacre, the paramilitary forces then attacked civilians who were trying to help victims amid the bloodshed.
The locality’s hospital and a government office were also bombed, they added.
The communications blackout imposed in the area has severely hampered access to information, raising concerns that the number of casualties could increase significantly.
Humanitarian workers and residents have struggled to reach the wounded.
In a statement released on Friday, Sheldon Yett, UNICEF’s representative in Sudan, denounced the attack: “Killing children in their school is a horrific violation of children’s rights.”
He emphasised that “Children should never pay the price of conflict,” and called on all actors “to stop these attacks immediately and allow safe, unhindered access for humanitarian assistance to reach those in desperate need”.
Al Jazeera’s Hiba Morgan, reporting from Khartoum, noted that the death toll continues to rise, as many survivors are critically injured and face major delays in receiving treatment due to the fighting and restricted movement.
This assault is part of a broader pattern of alleged RSF atrocities committed throughout Sudan’s brutal civil war, now deep into its third year. While the RSF has been repeatedly accused of attacks on civilians, the SAF too stands accused of carrying out grave abuses since the conflict erupted.
Morgan explained that the Kordofan region has become a critical battlefield, especially after the fall of el-Fasher last month, the final major city in Darfur that remained under army control.
She said the state has been the “scene of intense fighting between the army and the RSF in the past few weeks” as both sides fight to strengthen their strategic positions.
The geographical location of Kordofan makes it vital to both the SAF and the RSF.
Situated between RSF-dominated Darfur in the west and government-held regions in the north and east, the area serves as a crucial corridor linking both sides’ core territories. If the RSF were to secure major cities such as el-Obeid, they would gain direct access to Khartoum, territory the army recaptured earlier this year. Meanwhile, controlling Kordofan allows the SAF to protect its remaining bases and to launch counter-offensives into Darfur.
Sudan’s war has already taken a staggering toll: tens of thousands dead, more than nine million displaced, and roughly 30 million people left dependent on humanitarian relief, according to UN and official figures.
The UN’s human rights chief, Volker Turk, cautioned on Thursday that South Kordofan is at severe risk of facing mass atrocities comparable to those recorded in el-Fasher after it fell to RSF forces. “It is truly shocking to see history repeating itself in Kordofan so soon after the horrific events in el-Fasher,” he warned, calling on the international community to act urgently to stop another large-scale massacre.
, who struck a pre-school and several other civilian sites in Kalogi locality, killing at least 116 people.){kind=link}