Drone strikes kill 15 civilians in Sudan’s Kadugli

At least 15 civilians, including seven children, were killed on Tuesday in drone strikes targeting the southern Sudanese city of Kadugli, according to a local volunteer group and eyewitnesses.

The attacks came just hours after the army said it had broken a siege on the city that had lasted for years, News.Az reports, citing Xinhua.

The Sudan Doctors Network said the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) struck several residential neighborhoods as well as the Al-Shartai Health Center. The group denounced the strikes as a “flagrant violation” of international humanitarian law.

A witness in Kadugli told Xinhua that most of those killed were patients who were receiving treatment inside the health center at the time of the attack, which occurred at around 4:00 p.m. (1400 GMT).

The strikes followed a significant development in the conflict earlier on Tuesday, when the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) announced that its troops had entered the city. Kadugli had been under siege for more than two years by the RSF and its ally, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N).

According to United Nations data, the prolonged blockade has forced nearly 80 percent of Kadugli’s estimated population of 183,750 to flee and has led to severe shortages of food and basic supplies.

The RSF has stepped up its military campaign across the Kordofan region since October 2025, following its capture of El Fasher, the last major army stronghold in neighboring Darfur.

Sudan has been gripped by a power struggle between the SAF and the RSF since mid-April 2023. The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and triggered what the United Nations describes as the world’s largest displacement crisis.

News.Az 

By Nijat Babayev