Fighting intensifies as humanitarian crisis deepens with cholera outbreak and mass displacement.
At least 104 civilians have been killed in drone attacks across Sudan’s Kordofan region as fighting between rival military factions reached deadly new heights in the brutal civil war deep into its third year.
The attacks have battered the central region since early December, right up to Friday, following the capture of a significant army base by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Babnusa after a week of intense fighting.
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The escalation has displaced tens of thousands and overwhelmed health facilities already strained by cholera and dengue outbreaks, as the main fighting shifts from Darfur in the west to the vast central region of Kordofan.
The deadliest attack was reported from a kindergarten and a hospital in Kalogi, South Kordofan, where 89 people were killed, including 43 children and eight women. United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk said he was “alarmed by the further intensification in hostilities” and warned that targeting medical facilities violates international humanitarian law.
Six Bangladeshi peacekeepers serving with the UN mission were killed when drones hit their base in Kadugli, South Kordofan’s capital, on December 13. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned what he termed “horrific drone attacks”, noting that attacks on peacekeepers “may constitute war crimes under international law”.
A day later, Dilling Military Hospital came under fire, with casualty figures varying. The Sudan Doctors Network reported nine deaths and 17 injuries, calling it “systematic targeting of health institutions”.
UN officials said six people were killed and 12 wounded, many of them medical staff.
The government-aligned Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) has blamed the RSF for the attacks, though the paramilitary group has not responded to the accusations.
Epidemics on the rise
The violence has created severe humanitarian consequences beyond the immediate death toll. North Kordofan’s Health Minister Iman Malik reported that the state has recorded 13,609 cholera cases and 730 dengue fever infections, with 30 percent of health facilities no longer functioning due to the conflict.
More than 40,000 people have fled North Kordofan, while civilians remain trapped in besieged cities, including Kadugli and Dilling.
In nearby Heglig, which the RSF captured before handing it to South Sudan’s army under a tripartite agreement with the army, nearly 2,000 people were displaced to White Nile state.
The fighting in Kordofan represents a significant expansion of the conflict following the RSF’s October seizure of el-Fasher, the army’s last stronghold in Darfur. Researchers at Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL) found in a new report that the RSF killed civilians attempting to flee the city, then systematically began destroying evidence by burying, burning and removing bodies.
The escalation comes as international efforts to broker peace have restarted. SAF chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on December 15, expressing readiness to work with United States President Donald Trump on peace efforts.
The following day, Egypt and the US jointly rejected “any attempts to divide Sudan” and called for a comprehensive ceasefire.
Sudan has topped the International Rescue Committee’s Emergency Watchlist for three consecutive years. The war, which began in April 2023, has killed more than 40,000 people according to UN figures, though aid groups believe the true toll is far higher. More than 14 million people have been displaced in what the UN calls the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.
