Why it matters:
The attack, which targeted a kindergarten, rescuers, and later a rural hospital, marks an alarming escalation in violence against civilians. The country’s Foreign Affairs Ministry has held the United Nations Security Council and international actors responsible, saying they have limited themselves to verbal condemnations instead of taking action to stop the genocide.
The big picture:
Sudan has been devastated by civil war since April 2023, when clashes erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), an armed group. The conflict has led to the deaths of about 150,000 people and the displacement of more than 12 million.
Humanitarian organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have repeatedly accused RSF forces of mass killings, ethnic attacks, and systematic violence, warning that some incidents may amount to war crimes or genocide.
Key points:
- The Sudanese Foreign Ministry reported that the Janjaweed militia used drone-launched missiles to strike a kindergarten in Kaluqi, killing dozens of children instantly.
- When residents rushed to rescue survivors, the militia allegedly struck the site a second time, killing additional civilians, including children who were not injured in the first attack.
- The militia then pursued victims and medical staff to the rural hospital receiving the wounded, raising the death toll to 79, with 38 others injured.
- Sudan says the militia has commited “a precedent the world has never known,” deliberately targeting children, the injured, and paramedics, behaviour it described as terrorist and inhumane.
- Khartoum also criticized the UN Security Council and international actors for failing to enforce resolutions related to lifting the siege on El-Fasher and preventing further atrocities, arguing that global inaction has emboldened the militia.
What it's saying:
Sudan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in its statement:
“The terrorist militia carried out this heinous crime in a manner that confirms its goal was to inflict the greatest number of casualties among civilians.”
“Targeting children and the injured in this horrific terrorist manner represents a precedent the world has never known, even from the most brutal terrorist groups.”
“The sponsors of the militia, the United Nations Security Council, and the international actors bear responsibility for the continuation of these massacres.”
“They were content, after the genocide that is still ongoing occurred, with verbal condemnations that have not been translated into actions to curb the terrorist militia's ability to commit such atrocities.”
Go deeper:
UN Human Rights Office: El-Fasher Bleeding Amid Systematic Atrocities in Sudan
RSF Militants Kill 2,000 People in Sudan's El-Fasher
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