5 DEC 25 – At least nine people, including four children, have reportedly been killed in a set of drone strikes in South Kordofan as fighting escalates across the Kordofan region.
The strikes hit several civilian facilities, including a kindergarten, in the town of Kalogi on Thursday, with two women also among the dead and seven people injured, according to the Sudan Doctors Network (SDN).
Local sources told Sudan Tribune that a drone carried out three strikes, the first on the kindergarten, the second as people gathered to help the injured, and the third on a hospital as the victims were arriving.
Reports suggested the overall death toll could be much higher, with one local official telling Al Jazeera on Friday that it had risen to 80, including 46 children. Citing local sources, Save the Children in Sudan said dozens of civilians had been killed.
The SDN accused the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) of carrying out the attack.
It follows a strike on Saturday reportedly carried out by SAF near Kauda, a town in an SPLM-N-controlled part of South Kordofan, in which 48 people were killed.
The strike was the first to hit territory controlled by SPLM-N, which only became an ally of the RSF in February, since the start of the war.
The attacks come as the focus of the conflict shifts to the central Kordofan region - comprising North, West, and South Kordofan - following the fall of El Fasher to the RSF in October, a development that secured the group's control of the neighbouring region of Darfur.
On Monday, the RSF took the base of SAF’s 22nd Infantry Division in Babanusa, the largest town in West Kordofan after state capital El Fula, following a long-running siege.
Footage believed to have been shot in Babanusa after the fall showed RSF soldiers celebrating over the body of a man wearing army fatigues. Another clip showed a young man with a heavy limp apparently being detained as he tried to make his way across an area of scrubland.
On Friday, the SDN said the RSF had detained more than 100 families from Babanusa and the surrounding villages, and that among those detained were children and pregnant women.
It said video evidence suggested that “several detainees — especially women — have been subjected to beatings and humiliation on accusations that their relatives belong to the army”.
The group called on the international community to “hold the RSF fully accountable for the safety of the detained women and children, and take urgent steps to ensure their protection and their immediate release”.
The capture of Babanusa left the RSF in control of almost all of West Kordofan, with the 22nd Division’s only remaining position at the Heglig oilfield on the South Sudanese border, Sudan War Monitor reports.
Recent months have seen the RSF carry out a number of strikes around the oilfield, but fighting in the area has otherwise been limited because of Chinese economist interests, particularly in South Sudanese oil that is exported via pipelines in Sudan.
On Wednesday, UN human rights chief Volker Türk said it was “truly shocking to see history repeating itself in Kordofan so soon after the horrific events in El Fasher”.
Following the fall of El Fasher, which came at the end of an 18-month siege, there were allegations of widespread atrocities against civilians by the RSF, including torture, sexual violence, and summary executions.
“We must not allow Kordofan to become another El Fasher,” Türk said. “We cannot remain silent in front of yet another man-made catastrophe.”
RSF targets El Obeid
The RSF’s primary target in the region is now North Kordofan capital El Obeid, which sits on the main road linking Khartoum and other major cities in the east with Darfur in the west.
It is also one of Sudan’s largest cities - with an estimated population of around 560,000 - and a regional hub for agricultural trade.
In February, SAF lifted a siege that the RSF had maintained on El Obeid since the war began in April 2023, but recent months have seen renewed attacks on areas around the city.
In July, the RSF allegedly killed almost 300 people in attacks on villages in the Bara district immediately to the north, and on Thursday the UN Human Rights Office said it had documented at least 269 civilian deaths from strikes, shelling, and summary executions since the RSF captured Bara city on 25 October.
The week after the fall of El Fasher, RSF leader Hemedti said the group was “amassing a large force, heralding the imminent liberation of El Obeid”, Al Jazeera reports.
On 13 November, Darfur24 reported that a leaked military document showed preparations for the deployment of more than 380 combat vehicles to the west of El Obeid.
Speaking from El Obeid on Wednesday, aid worker Ahmed Omer* told Avaaz there was concern in the city about the prospect of it falling to the RSF.
“We have no trust, and we expect the army to withdraw [and leave the civilian population undefended] just as it did from Bara and Babanusa and other areas in Sudan,” he said.
Avaaz has previously been told that many civilians in Bara were unaware of SAF’s withdrawal until the RSF began breaking down people’s doors in the middle of the night.
“We hope the RSF does not enter El Obeid, because if they do, it will become a humanitarian disaster like El Fasher,” Ahmed Omer said.
He added that conditions for those displaced to the city by the attacks on Bara remained “critical”.
“They face severe food shortages due to irregular delivery of assistance,” he said. “Many live in temporary shelters that lack basic safety and privacy standards.
“With winter approaching, displaced people are suffering from a lack of warm clothing and blankets, especially children and the elderly.”
What’s the importance of the Kordofans?
The Kordofan region sits in the central south of Sudan and comprises the states of North, West, and South Kordofan.
Since the recapture of Khartoum in March, which secured SAF control of much of the east of Sudan, and the fall of El Fasher in October, which secured the RSF's control of Darfur in the west, Kordofan has increasingly become the frontline of the war.
Control of North Kordofan is split between SAF and the RSF, while West Kordofan is now held mostly by the RSF.
South Kordofan is divided between SAF, the RSF, and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), a party with its roots in the conflict between southern Sudan and the Khartoum government prior to the secession of South Sudan in 2011.
The SPLM-N is split into two factions that are active in South Kordofan and Blue Nile, with the faction led by Abdelaziz al-Hilu having controlled much of South Kordofan since before the current conflict.
Since it joined the Sudan Founding Alliance (Tasees) in February, the SPLM-N (al-Hilu) has been allied with the RSF and has fought against SAF in South Kordofan.
Concern is growing about the impact of the fighting, particularly around North Kordofan capital El Obeid and the besieged cities of Dilling and Kadugli, on the region’s civilian population.
Just in the past month, conflict across North and South Kordofan has displaced over 41,000 people, according to UNICEF.
Also speaking from El Obeid, another aid worker, Youssef*, said new troops from SAF and the SAF-allied Joint Forces had recently arrived in the city and were increasingly targeting civilians, particularly those accused of being affiliated with the RSF.
“They are looting people, firing random gunshots,” he said. “People are being beaten at random, and the shooting has caused many injuries.
“They have been driving their vehicles recklessly, running over people and moving through markets as if they were driving in the desert.”
He said the father of a friend was recently killed when he was run over by the Joint Forces and “left to die in the street”.
“He is not the only one,” Youssef said. “There are many other cases of hit and run incidents."
A long-running siege is also ongoing in the towns of Dilling and Kadugli, which sit on the road running south from El Obeid.
The towns are under SAF control and are connected to one another by road, but are otherwise surrounded by RSF or SPLM-N territory.
UNICEF said on Wednesday that there were reports of “acute shortages of food, fuel, and medical supplies” in both towns, while their populations faced “famine-like conditions amid restricted humanitarian access”.
Voices From The Ground
Speaking to Avaaz from El Obeid on Wednesday, aid volunteer Youssef* said:
“Regular forces [SAF and their allies] in El Obeid are committing many violations. They are looting people, firing random gunshots, and accusing civilians of being affiliated with the RSF without any evidence. People are being beaten at random, and the shooting has caused many injuries.
“Recently new forces from the Joint Forces arrived in the city. They have been driving their vehicles recklessly, running over people and moving through markets as if they were driving in the desert. My friend’s father was killed this way. He was run over in the middle of the market by the Joint Forces and left to die in the street. He is not the only one. There are many other cases of hit and run incidents caused by the regular forces.
“I think most of the shells [targeting the city] land in the desert, but we have no way of knowing for sure. No one reports the casualties, and we do not know if people are being killed. Yesterday there was another round of shelling that hit neighborhoods and the military headquarters. We still have no idea how many people were killed or injured.
“Life in El Obeid is becoming more expensive every day. Entire families now have to work just to be able to eat. Children and women go to the market to work, sell goods, do laundry, or serve tea and coffee. Even this is targeted by the local authorities. They raid the markets and arrest people for doing informal work.
“A person needs about 6000 SDG ($10) per day to eat in El Obeid. A family of five needs around 30,000 SDG per day, and no one is earning anywhere near this amount. People have to make do with whatever they can and work in every possible way in order to survive.
“Medical care is even more expensive. An X ray at the general hospital costs 200,000 SDG, which most people cannot afford. The blood bank is empty, and it is common to see people searching for volunteers to donate blood before important surgeries.
“The population of the city keeps increasing. Before the recent major displacement, the Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) estimated around 560,000 residents in El Obeid. Over the past year more than 700,000 displaced people have arrived. The desert between El Obeid and Tagat [around 10km to the east] is now completely filled with displaced families. New families arriving in the city cannot even find a space to stay.
“After the fall of Babanusa some people may consider leaving El Obeid, and a few might try, but most of us cannot afford to leave. We are simply trying to survive.”
*Names changed due to security concerns.
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People caught trying to smuggle food into the besieged city of El Fasher are being “executed on sight” by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), according to one civilian.
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