At Least 16 Civilians Killed in Shelling in Sudan’s Kordofan Region

International Desk, PNN

At least 16 civilians were killed in shelling in a besieged town in Sudan’s conflict-ridden Kordofan region. The ongoing civil war, now in its third year, has caused rapidly increasing civilian casualties.

According to Sudan Doctors Network, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and their allies, the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement–North (SPLM-N), carried out heavy shelling in residential areas of Dilling over the past two days, killing women, children, and elderly civilians. The organization condemned the attack as deliberately targeting civilians.

Continuous shelling has severely strained Dilling’s healthcare system. The town, under blockade for more than two years, was already struggling with cholera and dengue outbreaks. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), over 50,000 people have been displaced from Kordofan’s three states since late October, with at least 710 from Dilling alone.

The UN human rights chief, Volker Turk, warned that the violence mirrors the genocidal patterns seen in Darfur. On December 13, six Bangladeshi peacekeepers were killed in a drone strike in Kaduqli, South Kordofan. To date, over 100,000 have died and about 14 million have been displaced since the conflict began in April 2023. The UN describes this as the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.