Rights group says paramilitary drone strike in Sudan killed 41 near Ethiopian border

CAIRO (AP) — A drone strike blamed on Sudan’s notorious paramilitaries hit a gathering of displaced people on the border with Ethiopia and killed 41, a rights group said.

Friday’s strike by the Rapid Support Forces took place in the Abu Shandi area in Sudan’s Blue Nile province, according to Emergency Lawyers, which tracks the war in the northeastern African nation.

Among the dead were eight children and many women, the group said.

A spokesperson for the RSF didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said it was appalled by the reported strike that also wounded dozens.

“Condemning these senseless killings is essential, but there must also be accountability for this flagrant disregard for international humanitarian law,” said Denise Brown, the U.N. resident and humanitarian coordinator in Sudan in a statement. “As each day goes by in this war, the world continues to accept the suffering of the people of Sudan.”

Sudan’s war started in April 2023 when tensions between the military and the RSF exploded into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, and spread across the country.

The conflict has killed at least 59,000 people, according to conflict monitor ACLED, though aid groups say the real number is likely higher.

It has forced more than 12.4 million to flee their homes, according to U.N. figures, creating what aid groups call the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. Across Sudan, 33.7 million people, including 17.3 million children, urgently need aid this year, and an estimated 825,000 children face severe acute malnutrition.

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This story has been amended to correct that at least 59,000 people — not 150,000 — have been killed in the war, according to conflict monitor ACLED.