A drone strike hits school and medical center in southern Sudan, killing 17, mostly schoolgirls

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CAIRO (AP) — An explosive-laden drone blamed on Sudanese paramilitaries struck a secondary school and a health care center in southern Sudan Wednesday, killing at least 17 people, mostly schoolgirls, a hospital official and a medical group said.

At least 10 people were wounded in the strike in the village of Shukeiri in the White Nile province, according to Dr. Musa al-Majeri, director of the Douiem Hospital, the nearest major medical facility to the village.

Al-Majeri told The Associated Press three girls suffered serious injuries; two of them underwent surgeries at the hospital while the third was evacuated to the capital, Khartoum.

The war-tracking Sudan Doctors Network reported the strike first, saying those killed included two teachers and a health care worker. The group said there was no military presence in the village.

Both the medical group and al-Majeri blamed the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces for the strike. The RSF didn’t respond to a request for comment.

“This horrific crime represents a continuation of the violations committed by the RSF in the White Nile,” said Dr. Razan Al-Mahdi, a spokeswoman for the medical group, adding that the paramilitaries attacked several civilian facilities in the past two days, including a student dormitory and a power station.

The strike in the village of Shukeiri in the White Nile province was the latest deadly attack in Sudan’s nearly three-year war.

Sudan slid into chaos in April 2023 when a power struggle between the military and the RSF exploded into open fighting in Khartoum and elsewhere in the country.

The devastating war has killed more than 40,000 people, according to U.N. figures, but aid groups say that is an undercount and the true number could be many times higher.

The fighting has centered in the sprawling Kordofan region, where deadly attacks, mostly by drones, were reported daily.

The war has been marked by atrocities including mass killings, gang rapes and other crimes, investigated by the International Criminal Court as potential war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The most recent atrocities happened in October when the RSF and its Janjweed allies overran the Darfur city of el-Fasher. The RSF attack there bore “ hallmarks of genocide,” according to United Nations-commissioned experts.

At least 6,000 people were killed in three days in October in el-Fasher, the U.N.’s Human Rights Office said.