The Sudanese Doctors Network said the deadly attack was carried out by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

A drone attack on a mosque in central Sudan killed two children and injured 13 others, according to the Sudanese Doctors Association. Similar attacks have occurred in the area.

The Sudanese Doctors Network said the attack was carried out at dawn on Wednesday by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group that has fought a three-year civil war with the Sudanese Armed Forces.

Children were reportedly studying the Koran at the Sheikh Ahmed Badawi Mosque in North Kordofan state when the building was hit by a drone, with the doctors’ group posting on Facebook saying it was “a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and a serious attack on a place of worship.”

The doctors said: “Targeting children in mosques is a fully fledged crime that cannot be excused and represents a dangerous escalation of repeated violations against civilians.”

The Sudanese Doctors Network said MSF had previously targeted other religious buildings, including a church in Khartoum and another mosque in El Fasher, reflecting “a clear systematic pattern of disregard for life and the sanctity of religious sites”.

The network calls on the international community, the United Nations and human rights and humanitarian organizations to take urgent action to build pressure to stop targeting civilians, ensure they are protected, open safe corridors for the delivery of medical and humanitarian aid, and work to document these violations and hold those responsible accountable,” the group said.

Separately, the United Nations said on Wednesday that a series of recent drone attacks on civilian infrastructure had been reported in Sudan’s South, North and West Kordofan states.

United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric said a World Food Program (WFP) warehouse in Kadugli was also hit by a suspected rocket attack on Tuesday night. He did not say which group was responsible for the attack.

“We must reiterate almost every day that civilians and civilian infrastructure, places of worship, schools and hospitals cannot and should not be targeted, which is a tragedy in itself,” Dujarric told reporters.

The United Nations has warned that Sudan’s civil war is spreading from western Darfur to the Kordofan region.

According to records, drone strikes carried out by Médecins Sans Frontières and the Sudanese Armed Forces killed more than 90 civilians and injured 142 between the end of January and February 6.

The United Nations said targets included WFP convoys, markets, health facilities and residential areas in southern and northern Kordofan state.