The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) carried out a devastating drone strike on the city of Kalogi in central Sudan, killing dozens of civilians, the majority of them children, in what appears to be one of the single deadliest attacks on children in the country's brutal civil war. The assault, which targeted a kindergarten, a hospital, and densely populated residential areas, has drawn universal condemnation and stark warnings from United Nations officials that the region risks a wave of atrocities mirroring recent horrors in Darfur.
According to local authorities and medical groups, the RSF launched a drone attack on the town of Kalogi in South Kordofan state. The drone fired multiple missiles, striking a kindergarten, the Ghadeer Hospital, and several populated neighborhoods. The initial death toll was reported as 79, including 43 children, but by Saturday, a local official stated the number had risen to at least 114 fatalities, 46 of whom were children. Communication blackouts in the area have made accurate reporting difficult, and the final toll may be even higher. The Sudan Doctors’ Network reported that the attack was deliberate and that paramedics responding to the initial carnage were targeted in a second strike.
The Kalogi massacre is not an isolated event but part of a sharp escalation of violence in the strategic Kordofan region. UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk warned that history is "repeating itself" in Kordofan following the fall of El Fasher in Darfur, where warnings of impending violence were ignored before widespread killings occurred. Since late October, when the RSF captured Bara city, the UN has documented at least 269 civilian deaths from aerial bombardment, artillery fire, and summary executions across the Kordofan states. The actual number is believed to be far higher due to reporting blackouts. Other reported violations include retaliatory killings, arbitrary detention, sexual violence, and the forced recruitment of children.
The attack aligns with a well-established pattern of RSF brutality against Sudanese civilians. In October, the World Health Organization condemned the reported killing of more than 460 patients and their companions at the Saudi Maternity Hospital in El Fasher. In April 2025, Amnesty International documented how the RSF deliberately attacked Zamzam, the largest camp for internally displaced persons in Darfur, killing civilians, taking hostages, and destroying critical infrastructure in what the organization says should be investigated as war crimes. Amnesty's Secretary-General stated the assault "laid bare once again [the RSF's] alarming disregard for human life".
The intensified fighting has triggered a mass displacement crisis, with over 45,000 people fleeing their homes in Kordofan in recent weeks. The humanitarian situation is dire, with the UN confirming famine conditions in the besieged city of Kadugli and a risk of famine in Dilling. All parties to the conflict are blocking humanitarian access, cutting off civilians from food, medicine, and essential supplies. The broader conflict, which began in April 2023, has killed at least 40,000 people, displaced 12 million, and created one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.
International responses have been unified in their condemnation. Sheldon Yett, UNICEF's Representative for Sudan, called the killing of children in their school "a horrific violation of children's rights". The South Kordofan state government has called on the international community to designate the RSF as a terrorist organization. UN officials and human rights groups are urgently calling for an immediate ceasefire, unimpeded humanitarian access, and accountability for the perpetrators of these atrocities to prevent Kordofan from suffering the same fate as El Fasher.