Deadly Violence in Sudan Leaves 14 Dead Including Children in Latest Attack

Paramilitary forces and allied rebels launched a deadly assault on a central Sudanese city, killing at least 14 civilians including five children. The attack on Dilling comes as Sudan's ongoing civil war continues to devastate communities across the country.

A violent assault by paramilitary fighters and their rebel allies claimed the lives of at least 14 civilians in Sudan’s central Kordofan region, medical officials reported Sunday, marking another tragic chapter in the nation’s devastating civil conflict.

The Rapid Support Forces, working alongside Sudan People’s Liberation Movement–North fighters, launched a massive assault Saturday targeting Dilling, which serves as the capital of South Kordofan province. Among the victims were five children and two women, according to reports. Military forces, who had recently ended a prolonged blockade of the city, successfully repelled the offensive.

Medical professionals with the Sudan Doctors Network, an organization monitoring the conflict, reported that paramilitary forces bombarded civilian neighborhoods during the extended battle. The prolonged assault left at least 23 additional people wounded, with seven more children among the injured beyond those who died.

The city of Dilling had endured severe food shortages resembling famine conditions following more than two years under paramilitary siege, during which fighters blocked essential supplies and regularly conducted bombing campaigns. Government forces successfully ended the blockade earlier this year.

Medical officials expressed concern about a potential “catastrophic scenario” similar to what occurred in el-Fasher, a city in the Darfur region. Paramilitary forces invaded that area in October during an offensive that United Nations experts described as showing “hallmarks of genocide.”

The el-Fasher assault resulted in over 6,000 deaths across three days when paramilitary forces unleashed what the U.N. Human Rights Office characterized as “a wave of intense violence … shocking in its scale and brutality.”

Sudan descended into widespread turmoil in April 2023 following a power dispute between government military forces and the Rapid Support Forces that erupted into active combat in the capital city of Khartoum.

United Nations statistics indicate the conflict has claimed more than 40,000 lives, though humanitarian organizations believe the actual death toll could be significantly higher.

Recent combat has concentrated in the Darfur and Kordofan regions, where fatal attacks, primarily involving drone strikes, occur on a daily basis. The U.N. Human Rights Office reported that drone attacks alone killed more than 500 civilians through mid-March of this year.

The conflict has been characterized by widespread atrocities including mass executions, sexual violence, and other serious crimes currently under investigation by the International Criminal Court as potential war crimes and crimes against humanity.