KHARTOUM, Sudan / ISTANBUL 

The Sudanese army said Saturday that five civilians from one family, including two young girls, were killed in a drone strike carried out by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in North Kordofan State in southern Sudan.

The overnight attack targeted the village of Awlad Al-Sharif in the Indraba area, the army said in a statement. Six other villagers were injured.

The military described the strike as part of what it called the RSF’s “pattern of atrocities against civilians and war crimes.”

There was no immediate comment from the rebel group on the army statement.

North Kordofan has been the scene of escalating violence in recent weeks, with heavy clashes between the army and the RSF spreading across Sudan’s wider Kordofan region.

The army and RSF have been fighting a war since April 2023 that has killed more than 20,000 victims and displaced 14 million, according to the UN and local authorities. Research from US universities, however, estimates the death toll at around 130,000.