Sudanese paramilitary kills nine civilians in drone strike
The Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) attacked civilian infrastructure in the state of South Kordofan, killing nine people according to the Middle East Monitor via Anadolu Agency.
On December 4th, the RSF launched a suicide drone attack with its ally, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), which struck a children’s nursery alongside numerous civilian facilities in the town of Kalogi.
The Sudan Doctors Network, a professional association of Sudanese doctors, revealed that four children and two women were amongst those killed in the strike.
The group condemned the attack as “a grave violation of international humanitarian law and a continuation of the targeting of civilians and vital infrastructure.”
It placed full responsibility for the assault on the SPLM-N and the RSF. It urged the United Nations and human rights groups to intervene in such a way that would reduce or prevent civilian attacks by the paramilitary.
Since civil war between the RSF and the national military erupted in April 2023, the former has frequently targeted civilians, notably those living in displacement camps, through raids, bombardments, and executions.
For 18 months, the RSF besieged the strategically significant North Darfur capital city of El-Fasher to root out the last remaining military stronghold in the Darfur region, eventually succeeding in doing so on October 26th. The Sudan Doctors Network described the siege as “an integrated genocide, involving bombardment… and [the] systematic starvation of residents.”
The RSF now controls virtually the entirety of the western region of Darfur, which is comprised of five out of Sudan’s 18 states. The Sudanese military controls most areas in the remaining 13 states, including the capital of Khartoum.
El-Fasher was long the focal point of the conflict. Now that the city has been conquered by the RSF, a new frontline has materialised in the centre of Sudan, mostly centred around the North Kordofan state capital of El-Obeid.
On November 14th, eyewitnesses informed Reuters of an influx of troop deployments by both warring parties in the region, seemingly coalescing around the city.
The entire Kordofan region has become highly contested, with advances being made and lost on a regular basis by both warring factions. Most recently, the SPLM-N claimed on December 4th that its fighters recaptured a garrison in South Kordofan, reversing a territorial gain previously made by the military.
Middle East Monitor via Anadolu Agency, Maghrebi.org, Reuters, Sudan Tribune
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