At least 116 people, including 46 children, were killed after Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) carried out deadly strikes on a pre-school and other civilian sites in Kalogi, local officials and medical sources said.

According to the Sudan Doctors Network, the assault involved the use of “deliberate suicide drones” that directly targeted a kindergarten and surrounding civilian facilities. Paramedics who rushed to the scene were themselves hit in a second wave of attacks, severely hampering rescue and evacuation efforts.

Military sources aligned with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) said the RSF first bombed the pre-school on Thursday, then launched follow-up strikes as civilians gathered to help the wounded. A local hospital and a government building were also reportedly struck during the attack.

A communications blackout in and around Kalogi has complicated efforts to verify casualty figures, with officials warning that the death toll could rise as more victims are located. Local health workers said medical facilities were overwhelmed and struggled to respond due to limited equipment and repeated targeting of emergency responders.

The attack drew sharp condemnation from international officials. UNICEF’s representative in Sudan, Sheldon Yett, described the strike as “a horrific violation of children’s rights,” stressing that schools and children must never be targets of war.

The Sudan Doctors Network called the assault a “grave violation of international humanitarian law,” citing the deliberate targeting of civilians, medical workers and vital public infrastructure.

Meanwhile, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk warned that the situation in Kordofan risks descending into mass atrocities similar to those witnessed in Darfur.

“It is truly shocking to see history repeating itself in Kordofan so soon after the horrific events in el-Fasher,” Türk said, urging the international community to take urgent action.

The violence comes as fighting escalates across South Kordofan following the fall of el-Fasher, the last major Darfur city previously under government control. Kordofan serves as a strategic corridor connecting RSF-held territories in Darfur with central and northern Sudan.

Military analysts warn that control of major cities such as el-Obeid could provide the RSF with a direct route toward Khartoum, significantly altering the balance of power in the conflict.

Sudan’s civil war has now entered its third year, leaving tens of thousands dead and forcing more than nine million people from their homes. An estimated 30 million people now depend on humanitarian assistance to survive.

The United Nations has documented at least 269 civilian deaths in Kordofan alone since late October, resulting from aerial bombardments, artillery attacks and targeted killings. Human rights groups continue to warn that without urgent international intervention, the humanitarian and security crisis in Sudan will continue to worsen. (ILKHA)