KHARTOUM, Sudan/ANKARA

At least six people were killed and 15 others injured when a drone operated by Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) struck a hospital in the city of El-Obeid, capital of North Kordofan State, a Sudanese legal group said Friday.

The Emergency Lawyers Committee, a rights watchdog, said in a statement that the RSF drone targeted Al-Dhaman Hospital, killing patients, medical staff, and attendants.

The strike also caused severe damage to the hospital, forcing it to suspend operations and exacerbating the already dire health crisis in the region.

The group condemned the attack as a war crime and a grave violation of international humanitarian law, holding the RSF accountable and calling for their prosecution.

This is not the first time the medical infrastructure in El-Obeid has come under attack. On May 15, a drone strike launched by the RSF hit the Military Medical Corps Hospital in the same city, leaving several people dead and wounded, according to Sudanese authorities.

In recent months, the Sudanese government has repeatedly accused the RSF of launching drone attacks on civilian infrastructure, including electricity stations and other key facilities across northern and eastern cities.

The RSF has not issued public comments on the latest incidents.

Since April 2023, the RSF has been battling the army for control of Sudan, resulting in thousands of deaths and creating one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

More than 20,000 people have been killed and 15 million displaced, according to the UN and local authorities. Research from US scholars, however, puts the death toll at around 130,000.