Drone strike kills 2 at religious school in Sudan’s North Kordofan

KHARTOUM, Sudan/ ISTANBUL

A drone strike on a religious boarding school inside a mosque killed two students and injured 13 others on Wednesday in the city of Al-Rahad in Sudan’s North Kordofan state, a medical group said.

The Sudan Doctors Network blamed the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for the attack that targeted the Sheikh Ahmed Al-Badawi Mosque in the city of Al-Rahad at dawn.

“Targeting children inside mosques is a fully constituted crime that cannot be justified under any pretext and represents a dangerous escalation in the pattern of repeated violations against civilians,” it said in a statement.

The group said the attack was the latest in RSF assaults on places of worship, including a church in Khartoum and a mosque in El Fasher, resulting in dozens of casualties.

Adam Abubakr Othman, head of the school, said the attack occurred after morning prayers during a lesson as students were reciting Islam’s holy book, the Quran.

“The strike led to the death of one student and injured about 18 others from the school,” he said in a video posted on social media.

Activists in North Kordofan also shared images on social media showing the strike site and injured students.

Separately, the network reported another RSF drone attack in the city of Kadugli Tuesday, injuring 16 civilians, including three children from the same family, along with extensive property damage.

The attack hit Al-Matar, Hajar Al-Mak, and Al-Muwazafeen neighborhoods in the city, it added.

According to media reports, a drone attack targeted a warehouse belonging to the World Food Program in Kadugli.

There was no immediate confirmation of the attack by the WFP.

Sudanese authorities and human rights groups have accused the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of targeting civilian facilities. The RSF has not responded to the accusations and says it works to protect civilians.

In addition to the Darfur region, Sudan’s three Kordofan states -- North, West and South -- have seen heavy fighting between the Sudanese army and the RSF.

The conflict, which began in April 2023, has killed tens of thousands and displaced about 13 million people, creating one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises and famine conditions, according to UN reports.