At least 17 people, most of them schoolgirls. Were killed when an explosive-laden drone struck a secondary school and healthcare centre in Sudan's White Nile province, in the latest atrocity in the country's devastating three-year war.
The strike hit the village of Shukeiri on Wednesday, according to Dr Musa al-Majeri, director of Douiem hospital, the nearest major medical facility. At least 10 more people were wounded. The attack was blamed on Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which has been engaged in a bitter civil war against the Sudanese Armed Forces since April 2023.
A War the World Has Largely Forgotten
Sudan's civil conflict is one of the largest humanitarian catastrophes in the world, but it has received comparatively little international attention amid the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East. The war has displaced more than nine million people, more than any other displacement crisis currently active globally, and caused widespread famine, disease, and systematic sexual violence.
The RSF, which grew out of the notorious Janjaweed militias responsible for the Darfur genocide in the early 2000s, has been widely accused of targeting civilians, including attacks on hospitals, schools, and water infrastructure. Human rights organizations have documented a pattern of deliberate attacks on civilian structures.
Canada's Role in Responding
Canada has been one of Sudan's more consistent international supporters, providing hundreds of millions of dollars in humanitarian assistance since the conflict began. Ottawa has also pushed for a UN Security Council resolution and supported African Union-led mediation efforts, though diplomatic progress has been painfully slow.
Canadian aid organizations, including several Ottawa-based NGOs, are active in Sudan and in neighbouring countries hosting Sudanese refugees, particularly Chad and Egypt. Aid workers have described conditions as among the worst they have ever witnessed.
For Ottawa's significant Sudanese diaspora community, the latest attack is a devastating reminder of what their families back home are enduring. Community organizations in the capital have been holding fundraisers and calling on the Canadian government to do more to pressure all parties to the conflict.
Source: The Guardian
