Sudan drone strike blamed on RSF kills 13, source says

A drone strike blamed on Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces killed 13 people outside a courthouse in the army-held central town of Umm Rawaba on Tuesday, a medical source at the local hospital told AFP.

The medical source said 22 injured people were being treated at the hospital, revising an earlier toll of 12 dead after one more person died of their injuries.

The strike hit a crowded area outside the courthouse in North Kordofan, where residents had gathered for legal and administrative procedures. One witness told AFP he saw a drone hit a tree outside the building. Another said residents tried to help people caught in the blast and that some died at the scene.

There was no immediate comment from the Rapid Support Forces.

Umm Rawaba lies on a strategic route linking central and western Sudan. It has remained under army control despite repeated attacks in the surrounding region.

The strike comes amid an escalating wave of drone attacks by both the RSF and the Sudanese army, which have been at war since April 2023. UN figures cited by AFP say drone strikes by both sides have killed more than 1,100 people this year.

Aid workers estimate the war has killed more than 200,000 people, displaced millions and created the world's largest displacement and hunger crises.

A United Nations fact-finding mission warned this week that outside support was strengthening both sides' military capabilities and enabling more advanced operations, often with severe consequences for civilians. The warning coincided with a US call for the UN Security Council to expand an arms embargo focused on Darfur to cover all of Sudan.