Civilians targeted in West and North Kordofan amid SAF airstrikes, RSF clashes

Reports indicate that dozens of civilians were killed or injured in a surge of violence across West and North Kordofan, as the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) launched barrel bomb attacks on El Fula in West Kordofan. Deadly clashes were also reported between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and residents in Shaq El Noum, north of Bara, in North Kordofan, on Sunday.

The Sudanese Doctors Network, a volunteer medical group, said the RSF had carried out a brutal attack in Shaq El Noum, leaving 11 civilians dead, including three children, and wounding 31 others, including nine women.

Four barrel bombs were reportedly dropped by the Sudanese Air Forces on El Fula, killing and injuring civilians including tea sellers, children, and market workers. An eyewitness described the aftermath to Radio Dabanga: “There was the smell of death everywhere, and blood and body parts were scattered.”

Last week, an SAF airstrike on displaced shelters in Abu Zabad killed eight people, including three children, and injured six others.

Rockets struck Osama bin Zaid School and El Wefaq School, both of which were being used as shelters, as well as surrounding homes. Local emergency committees described the repeated targeting of shelters as a war crime.

In North Kordofan, the RSF claimed in a communiqué issued yesterday by the office of its official spokesperson that it had captured Umm Samima, the final SAF defence line west of El Obeid, and released footage purportedly showing its fighters in the area. Hours later, SAF and allied forces announced they had retaken control. Neither claim could be independently verified.