ISTANBUL 

Nine civilians were killed, and seven others injured Thursday in an attack by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in South Kordofan in southern Sudan, local medics said.

Suicide drones launched by the RSF and its ally, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), struck a kindergarten and several civilian facilities in the town of Kalogi, the Sudan Doctors Network said in a statement.

Four children and two women were among the victims, it added.

The medical group denounced the drone attack as “a grave violation of international humanitarian law and a continuation of the targeting of civilians and vital infrastructure.”

It held the RSF leadership fully responsible and demanded the United Nations and human rights organizations take practical steps to stop attacks on civilians by the rebel group.

There was no immediate comment from the RSF on the report.

The three Kordofan states—North, West, and South—have seen weeks of fierce fighting between the army and the RSF, prompting tens of thousands of people to flee.

Of Sudan’s 18 states, the RSF controls all five states of the Darfur region in the west, except for some northern parts of North Darfur that remain under army control. The army, in turn, holds most areas of the remaining 13 states in the south, north, east, and center, including the capital, Khartoum.

The conflict between the Sudanese army and the RSF, which began in April 2023, has killed at least 40,000 people and displaced 12 million, according to the World Health Organization.