Drone Hits TK In Sudan, 50 People Died Including More Than 30 Children

JAKARTA - At least 50 people were killed, including 33 children, when a bomb-bombed drone hit a kindergarten in Sudan's south-center region, a group of doctors said, while the African Union said the death toll from the attack reached around 100 people.

The cooperative in Kalogi City, South Kordofan State, was targeted by a "second unexpected attack", the Sudanese Doctors Network said.

Emergency Lawyers, a human rights group that tracks violence against civilians in Sudan, reported attacks on paramedics treating survivors in Kalogi and said the "third civilian location near the previous two locations" was also hit.

The group blamed the attack on paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), calling the attack "a gross violation of international humanitarian law, including the protection of civilians, especially children, and vital civilian infrastructure".

The death toll is expected to be higher, but outages in communications in the region make it difficult to report victims.

Meanwhile, the African Union strongly condemned the attack and called for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire between the army and the RSF. They estimated the death toll to be more than 100, but did not disclose the source of the information.

"Killing children at their school is a terrible violation of children's rights," said Unicef's representative for Sudan

"Children should never have suffered the consequences of the conflict," he continued.

This attack is the latest outbreak of violence between the RSF and the Sudanese military, which have been trapped in civil war since April 2023. The conflict is now concentrated in oil-rich states of Kordofan.

Sementara, UNICEF mendesak semua pihak yang terlibat dalam perang "untuk segera menghentikan serangan-attack ini dan memungkinkan akses yang aman dan tanpa hambatan bagi bantuan kemanusiaan untuk mencapai mereka yang sangat membutuhkan," ujarnya.

Hundreds of civilians have died across the state of Kordofan in recent weeks as fighting escalated from Darfur after RSF seized control of the city of El Fasher from the armed forces.

US envoy Massad Boulos on Saturday night condemned the drone attack on a World Food Program (WFP) truck in North Darfur.

"Both parties who are in conflict have used food refusal for those who are starving as a war tactic," he said.

"Humanist staff and assets should not be targeted," said Boulos.

Earlier, the World Food Program (WFP) on Friday said one of its trucks, part of the convoy, was attacked even though the route had been cleared by the two warring parties.

The organization said it was the sixth attack on its vehicles in the past year.

"The route is the main supply route for WFP to reach the most vulnerable people in Darfur, with nearly 100 aid trucks each month using the same road to deliver important food aid," he said, with the driver seriously injured.

On Sunday, an attack carried out by the Sudanese military killed at least 48 people, mostly civilians, in Kauda, South Kordofan.

UN human rights chief Volker Turk warned that Kordofan could be the location of atrocities.

RSF and Sudanese military have been at war since 2023. More than 40,000 people have died, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) and at least 12 million people displaced. However, aid groups say the actual death toll could be much higher.