At least 17 people, most of them schoolchildren, were killed on Wednesday when an explosives-laden drone attributed to Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces attacked a secondary school and a health care centre.
At least 10 people were wounded in the attack in the village of Shukeiri in White Nile province, according to Dr. Musa al-Majeri, director of Douiem hospital, the main medical center closest to the village.
Al-Majeri said three girls suffered serious injuries; two of them underwent surgery in the hospital while the third was evacuated to the capital, Khartoum.
The Sudan Doctors Network, which monitors the war, first reported the attack and said the dead included two teachers and a health worker. The group said there was no military presence in the village.
Both the medical group and al-Majeri blamed the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for the attack. RSF did not respond to a request for comment.
“This horrific crime represents a continuation of the violations committed by the RSF in the White Nile,” said Dr. Razan Al-Mahdi, spokesman for the medical group, adding that the paramilitaries attacked several civilian facilities in the past two days, including a student residence and a power plant.
The attack in Shukeiri was the latest deadly attack in Sudan’s nearly three-year war.
Sudan fell into chaos in April 2023, when a power struggle between the army and the RSF erupted into open fighting in Khartoum and other parts of the country.
The devastating war has killed more than 40,000 people, according to UN figures, but aid groups say the true toll could be much higher.
The fighting has centered on the Kordofan region, where deadly attacks, mostly involving drones, are reported daily.
The war has been marked by atrocities including mass killings, gang rapes and other crimes, investigated by the international criminal court as possible war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The most recent atrocities occurred in October, when the RSF and its Janjaweed allies invaded the town of el-Fasher in Darfur. The RSF attack there had “signs of genocide”, according to experts commissioned by the UN.
At least 6,000 people were killed in three days in October in El Fasher, the UN human rights office said.
