Update: 20 killed, 50 injured in drone strike on prison in W. Sudan: gov't

KHARTOUM, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Twenty inmates were killed and 50 others injured in a drone strike targeting a central prison in El Obeid in western Sudan's North Kordofan State on Saturday, the Sudanese government said in a statement.

Saying that the dead and injured inmates are all civilians, government spokesperson Khalid Ali Aleisir accused the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of launching the "terrorist act" on Saturday morning.

It was "a full-fledged war crime that adds to the militia's long record of violations against Sudanese civilians," the spokesperson said, adding that the RSF also carried out a drone strike on El-Obeid Hospital on Saturday morning.

Earlier in the day, a medical source at El-Obeid Hospital, who requested anonymity, told Xinhua that the hospital received 19 dead bodies and 45 injuries from the drone strike on the prison, and that "the number of casualties is expected to rise."

An eyewitness near the prison building told Xinhua that "three drones launched around five missiles at the prison, with about three of them directly striking the building and the inmates' living quarters."

The RSF intensified its drone attacks recently on military sites and key facilities in areas controlled by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), including El Obeid.

Sudan has been embroiled in a devastating conflict between the SAF and the RSF since mid-April 2023, which has claimed tens of thousands of lives, with the exact toll unable to be verified. The International Organization for Migration estimated that over 15 million people have been displaced, both within Sudan and abroad. ■