Death toll from RSF massacre in South Kordofan rises to 79, including 43 children

Sudan’s foreign ministry on Friday said that the death toll from the Rapid Support Forces' bombing of civilian facilities in the town of Kalogi, South Kordofan state, had risen to 79.

The ministry added that the toll includes at least 43 children, while 38 others were wounded in the attacks.

According to various reports, the RSF carried out the assault in coordination with the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North, led by Abdelaziz al-Hilu.

A statement from the ministry condemned the attack and said it was carried out using four missiles launched from a drone. It added that the missiles targeted a kindergarten, the Qadir Hospital, and densely populated residential areas.

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

It added that when civilians went to help those wounded, the RSF "targeted the kindergarten again, killing more people, including children who were not hurt in the first strike".

The offensive has been decried as one of the deadliest attacks in the region since renewed clashes in recent weeks.

The South Kordofan government called on the international community to take a firm stance against the violations and pushed for them to designate the RSF as a terrorist organisation.

The foreign ministry said the latest offensive "offers new evidence that the militia interprets the international community’s silence as encouragement and approval of its continuing atrocities".

Days earlier, South Sudan’s government said that a similar attack killed eight people, including six children.

This comes after the Sudanese Doctors Network accused the RSF and their allies of carrying out indiscriminate attacks in recent months, which have killed dozens of civilians and destroyed infrastructure.

The UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, has recently warned against the "grave violation of children’s rights" following reports that 10 children, aged between five and seven, were killed in a drone strike in Kadugli, the capital of the South Kordofan State.

UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said the attacks come amid a "sharp deterioration in the security situation in the two Kordofan states since the beginning of November," noting that the clashes have resulted in widespread displacement and a humanitarian disaster.

UNICEF has also raised concerns that medical services in the region are collapsing, with basic supplies running out and education disrupted, while children suffer from "severe psychological and social pressures".

The three Kordofan states – south, west and north – have all witnessed fierce clashes between the Sudanese army and the RSF, leading to tens of thousands of people being displaced.

The RSF currently controls all five Darfur states, except for parts of north Darfur, which remain under the control of the army.

Conflict between the Sudanese army and the RSF broke out in April 2023, and has since killed thousands of people and displaced over a million others.

The RSF seized el-Fasher, the capital of north Darfur, last month, following a year-long siege and reports of sexual violence, summary executions and widespread killings.

Reports state that following the RSF takeover, corpses have gathered in piles and still await burial in mass graves.

UN war crimes investigators also state satellite evidence has showed that there is a network of newly dug incineration and burial pits in the region.

While the exact death toll from massacres remain unknown, British MPs predict at least 60,000 have been murdered in el-Fasher.