A recent paramilitary drone attack on the army-held town of Kalogi in Sudan's South Kordofan state hit a kindergarten and a hospital, killing dozens of civilians including children, a local official told AFP on Sunday.

The attack on Thursday involved three strikes, "first a kindergarten, then a hospital and a third time as people tried to rescue the children", Essam al-Din al-Sayed, head of the Kalogi administrative unit, told AFP using a Starlink satellite internet connection.

He blamed the assault on the Rapid Support Forces and their ally, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North faction (SPLM-N) led by Abdelaziz al-Hilu, which controls much of South Kordofan and parts of Blue Nile state.

The RSF did not respond to an AFP request for comment.

Since April 2023, the army and the paramilitary RSF have been locked in a conflict that has killed tens of thousands and displaced nearly 12 million.

Independent verification in Kordofan remains difficult due to spotty communications, restricted access and ongoing insecurity.

The exact death toll from the Kalogi attack remains unclear. 

The local official reported at least 80 dead including 40 children, while the army-aligned foreign ministry gave a lower toll of 79.

The African Union said the death toll exceeded 100.

The UN children's agency meanwhile said the attack killed more than 10 children aged between five and seven.

"Killing children in their school is a horrific violation of children's rights," UNICEF Representative for Sudan Sheldon Yett, said in a statement on Friday, urging all sides to stop their attacks and allow humanitarian aid.

In a statement shared on X on Sunday, African Union chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf condemned "in the strongest possible terms the horrific reported attacks" in Kalogi.

He said he was "appalled by the repeated and escalating atrocities committed against civilians in the region".

Escalating violence

Following their late-October capture of El-Fasher -- the army's last stronghold in western Sudan -- the RSF has pushed eastward into the oil-rich Kordofan region, divided into three states.

Reports of mass killings, sexual violence, looting and abductions followed El-Fasher's fall.

UN Human Rights commissioner Volker Turk said on Thursday he "feared another wave of atrocities in Sudan amid a surge in fierce fighting" in Kordofan.

"It is truly shocking to see history repeating itself in Kordofan so soon after the horrific events in El Fasher."

Last week, a drone strike by the army in Kauda -- the SPLM-N faction stronghold in South Kordofan -- killed at least 48 people, according to the UN.

More than 40,000 people have fled Kordofan in the past month alone, UN data showed.

Analysts say the RSF offensive aims to break the army's final defensive arc around central Sudan and set the stage for attempts to retake major cities, including the capital Khartoum.

Accusations

A few hundred kilometres to the west, the World Food Programme reported an attack Thursday on one of its trucks near the town of Hamra El-Sheikh in North Darfur.

The truck, part of a 39-vehicle convoy delivering food to families displaced from El-Fasher to Tawila, about 70 kilometres west, had its cabin destroyed while the driver was seriously injured, the WFP said.

US envoy for Africa Massad Boulos condemned the attack on Saturday, urging both sides to "cease hostilities and allow unhindered humanitarian access".

The RSF also accused the army on Friday of carrying out a drone strike on the Adre border crossing with Chad, a key humanitarian and commercial route, alleging that the army wanted to block aid.

The military has not commented on that allegation.

Local sources, speaking anonymously to AFP because they were not authorised to brief the media, attributed an explosion at Adre on Friday to transport vehicles catching fire after a petrol canister detonated.

The United Arab Emirates has been accused by UN experts of supplying the RSF with weapons through Chad and Libya -- allegations Abu Dhabi has repeatedly denied.

Efforts to end the Sudan war have so far failed. 

Last month, US President Donald Trump said he would move to end the conflict following discussions with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, but the initiative has yet to materialise.