Sudanese authorities have strongly condemned the UAE-backed Rapid Support Forces after a drone strike targeted a vehicle carrying displaced civilians in North Kordofan, killing at least 24 people, as the country’s devastating civil war continues.
Sudanese authorities said on Saturday that a vehicle transporting displaced civilians was struck by a drone at the southern entrance of the city of Al-Rahad in North Kordofan state, killing at least 24 people and wounding many others.
The victims included women, children and elderly people who were fleeing violence from neighbouring South Kordofan.
In a statement, the North Kordofan state government said it “strongly condemns, in the harshest terms, the horrific terrorist crime committed by the RSF militia,” describing the incident as a deliberate attack on unarmed civilians.
The Rapid Support Force (RSF) are a Sudanese paramilitary force formerly operated by the Sudanese government. Since 2023, the RSF has been fighting a civil war against the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) for control of Sudan, after seizing power along with the SAF in the 2021 Sudanese coup d’état. In 2025, it established a parallel government called the Government of Peace and Unity.
According to the statement, the vehicle was carrying displaced people arriving from South Kordofan state’s Dubeiker area and heading toward Al-Rahad when it was targeted by a drone.
“The attack resulted in the martyrdom of 24 unarmed civilians, including women, children and elderly people, in addition to the injury of a large number of civilians,” the statement said.
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The state government described the incident as a “grave and serious violation” of international humanitarian law, especially laws that specialise in protecting civilians and displaced persons.
Medical condemnation
The Sudan Doctors Network also condemned the strike, calling it “a new massacre” committed by the RSF in North Kordofan. The group said the attack targeted a transport vehicle carrying displaced people fleeing South Kordofan as it arrived in Al-Rahad.
It said the wounded were transferred to Al-Rahad for treatment under extremely difficult health and humanitarian conditions, with hospitals facing a severe shortage of medical supplies and resources.
Targeting unarmed civilians, especially those fleeing conflict zones and their means of transport, constitutes “a full-fledged war crime and a violation of all humanitarian and international laws,” the network said. It accused the RSF of systematic violence against civilians and a policy of impunity.
The doctors’ group said the RSF bears full responsibility for what it described as the massacre and its humanitarian consequences. It urged the international community and human rights organisations to take urgent action to protect civilians and hold RSF leaders accountable.
The attack comes amid a broader escalation in North Kordofan, where RSF drone strikes have increasingly targeted civilian infrastructure and humanitarian operations, according to Sudanese authorities and aid groups.
Wider conflict
Of the country’s 18 states, the RSF controls all five states in the western Darfur region, except for parts of North Darfur, while the army holds most areas across the south, north, east and centre, including the capital, Khartoum.
Fighting has intensified across the Kordofan region since October 2025, following the fall of El-Fasher to the RSF.
The United Nations has described atrocities committed there as turning the area into a “crime scene.”
The prolonged conflict has pushed large parts of Sudan into famine conditions. United Nations estimates indicate that more than 21 million Sudanese face acute food insecurity, with nearly two-thirds of the population in need of urgent humanitarian assistance. Tens of thousands of people have also fled to neighbouring Chad in search of safety.
Conflict death figures are highly uncertain, and many researchers believe the true toll including indirect deaths from disease, starvation, lack of medical care, and collapse of services, could be significantly higher than official tallies.
Estimates cited by the UK government suggest up to around 150,000 deaths since 2023.
Saudi Arabia on Saturday strongly condemned a series of attacks by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that targeted a military hospital, a World Food Program (WFP) aid convoy, and a bus carrying displaced civilians in Sudan’s North and South Kordofan states.
In a statement, the Foreign Ministry voiced the kingdom’s strong condemnation of what it described as criminal assaults that killed dozens of unarmed civilians, including women and children, and caused damage to medical facilities and humanitarian convoys.
The ministry said the attacks are unjustifiable under any circumstances and amount to blatant violations of international humanitarian norms and relevant conventions.
