The World Health Organisation (WHO) has raised the alarm after confirming that more than 100 people were killed in repeated strikes on a kindergarten in Sudan’s South Kordofan state. The attacks, which occurred on 4 December, left at least 63 children dead and many others wounded.
In a message posted on X on Monday, WHO chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus condemned the assault, saying he was “deeply disturbed” that paramedics were also attacked while attempting to transfer injured children to a nearby hospital. He stressed that such acts violate humanitarian norms and endanger frontline responders.
Sudan’s Foreign Ministry accused the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of carrying out the strikes using drones. It denounced the attacks as a deliberate attempt to terrorise civilians and destabilise already vulnerable communities in the war-torn region.
According to WHO records, heavy weapons were used in the assault. The organisation reported 114 deaths in total, alongside 35 injured. A spokesperson explained that the fatalities include those from the kindergarten, casualties sustained during hospital transfers and victims from further strikes on the rural hospital itself.
The spokesperson said most of the children died in the first strike, while parents and healthcare workers later became casualties as they attempted to save survivors. The injured have since been relocated to another health facility, where urgent appeals for medical supplies and blood donations have been launched.
Health centres across Sudan have repeatedly suffered attacks during the country’s prolonged civil conflict. Reports of a massacre in al-Fashir in October have further underlined concerns about the deteriorating humanitarian situation and the disregard for protected civilian spaces.
The RSF has yet to comment on the latest incident. The group has previously denied targeting civilians, insisting that it investigates and sanctions any misconduct by its members.
Dr Tedros urged the global community to intensify efforts to protect civilians, medical staff and humanitarian workers, warning that continued attacks on health facilities threaten to deepen Sudan’s already dire health crisis.
