On December 4, 2025, the town of Kalogi in Sudan’s South Kordofan state became the site of one of the deadliest attacks on civilians in the country’s ongoing civil conflict. According to multiple sources, including the Sudan Doctors’ Network and international news agencies such as ABC and the Associated Press, a drone strike carried out by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) hit a kindergarten, killing at least 50 people—33 of them children. The horror didn’t end there, as paramedics who rushed to the scene were targeted in a second, unexpected attack. Rights groups and Sudanese officials warn the true death toll may be even higher, a grim possibility made more likely by widespread communication blackouts in the region.
This latest atrocity is part of a brutal, years-long struggle between the RSF and the Sudanese military, a conflict that has left Sudan in tatters since erupting in April 2023. The fighting, once concentrated in Darfur, has now shifted to the oil-rich Kordofan states, where both sides have been accused of grave violations against civilians. As reported by Anadolu and the Sudanese Foreign Ministry, the RSF’s attack in Kalogi was not only devastating in its immediate toll but also marked by an apparent intent to maximize civilian suffering. The ministry stated that after the initial drone strike on the kindergarten, a second strike targeted those who had come to help the wounded, including children who had survived the first blast. The ministry’s statement described the events as “an unprecedented act of terror against children and the wounded,” and accused the RSF of “chasing victims and medics” at the local hospital, raising the total number of dead to 79, including 43 children and six women, with 38 more injured.
Such numbers are difficult to verify with absolute certainty. The Sudan Doctors’ Network, which was among the first to report the attack, put the death toll at 50, including 33 children. Meanwhile, the South Kordofan state government initially reported eight fatalities—six children, a teacher, and another adult—before the toll climbed as more reports emerged. The discrepancies are a stark reminder of the chaos and confusion that have become commonplace in Sudan, where information often travels slowly, if at all, due to ongoing violence and deliberate communications shutdowns.
International reaction to the attack was swift and unequivocal. UNICEF’s Representative for Sudan, Sheldon Yett, issued a statement the day after the attack, calling it “a horrific violation of children’s rights.” Yett went on to say, “Children should never pay the price of conflict,” and urged all parties “to stop these attacks immediately and allow safe, unhindered access for humanitarian assistance to reach those in desperate need.” The Emergency Lawyers group, which tracks violence against civilians in Sudan, also condemned the strikes, labeling them “a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, including the protection of civilians, especially children, and vital civilian infrastructure.”
But the violence in Kalogi is only the latest in a string of incidents that have left the Kordofan states reeling. According to reports from AP and NPR, hundreds of civilians have been killed in the region in recent weeks, as the conflict has shifted from the besieged city of el-Fasher in Darfur—where the RSF’s takeover was marked by mass executions, sexual assaults, and other atrocities—into Kordofan. On December 1, 2025, Sudanese military aerial strikes killed at least 48 people, mostly civilians, in Kauda, South Kordofan. The United Nations Human Rights Chief, Volker Türk, has warned that Kordofan could soon see atrocities similar to those that have plagued el-Fasher.
The RSF, for its part, has denied responsibility for the Kalogi attack. In a statement issued Friday, the group instead condemned a separate drone strike on the Chad-Sudan border, accusing the Sudanese military of carrying out that attack and posting a video showing billowing black smoke. These claims could not be independently verified, and there was no immediate comment from the Sudanese military regarding the Kalogi incident. The RSF’s denials stand in sharp contrast to the Sudanese Foreign Ministry’s allegations, which not only accuse the group of genocide but also assert that “the militia’s backers, the UN Security Council and international actors bear responsibility for the continuation of these massacres.” The ministry went so far as to claim, “there is no path to coexistence with this terrorist militia, which lacks basic humanity and respect for any norm or law.”
The broader context of the war is staggering in its scale and brutality. According to the World Health Organization, more than 40,000 people have been killed and 12 million displaced since the RSF and Sudanese military began fighting for control of the country over two years ago. Aid groups, however, suggest that the real numbers may be far higher, as many deaths and disappearances go unreported. The RSF currently controls all five states of the Darfur region except for some parts of North Darfur, while the army holds most of the remaining 13 states, including the capital, Khartoum. The three Kordofan states—North, West, and South—have seen some of the fiercest fighting, prompting tens of thousands to flee their homes in recent weeks alone.
Amid the carnage, humanitarian organizations are sounding the alarm about the catastrophic impact on children. UNICEF’s Sheldon Yett’s words echo the despair felt by many: “Killing children in their school is a horrific violation of children’s rights.” The Emergency Lawyers group and the Sudan Doctors’ Network have both called for immediate international intervention to protect civilians and restore access for humanitarian aid. Yet, as the Sudanese Foreign Ministry’s statement suggests, there is a growing sense among Sudanese officials that the world’s response has been inadequate, if not complicit through inaction.
On the ground, the situation remains volatile and dangerous. After the initial strikes in Kalogi, reports surfaced that RSF fighters pursued the wounded and medical personnel to local hospitals, further endangering those already traumatized by the attack. The Sudanese Foreign Ministry’s characterization of these actions as “an unprecedented act of terror against children and the wounded” underscores the depths to which the conflict has sunk. And with communication blackouts still in effect, the true scale of suffering in Kordofan may not be known for weeks, if ever.
For now, the people of Kalogi and the wider Kordofan region are left to mourn their dead and fear for their lives as the war grinds on. The international community faces mounting pressure to respond decisively, but as the Sudanese Foreign Ministry’s statement makes clear, many in Sudan feel abandoned by the outside world. The tragedy in Kalogi is a stark reminder of the human cost of war—and of the urgent need for peace, accountability, and protection for the most vulnerable.
