CAIRO (AP) — An aid convoy was hit by drone strikes Thursday, killing three people and wounding four aid workers as it traveled to cities in central Sudan’s Kordofan region, the epicenter of fighting between the army and its rival paramilitary forces, a local doctors group said.
Sudan Doctors Network, a group that monitors violence in Sudan, said on X late Thursday that the trucks were carrying food and humanitarian supplies to the city of Kadugli and the town of Dilling in South Kordofan when they were struck in the Kartala area by drones it said belonged to the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF. It was not immediately clear which aid organization the convoy was affiliated with.
The war between the RSF and the Sudanese military erupted into a full-blown war across the country in April 2023. So far, at least 40,000 people have been killed and 12 million displaced, according to the World Health Organization. Aid groups say the true war death toll could be many times higher, as the fighting in vast and remote areas impedes access.
Most recently, the fight has been centered in Kordofan, where aid groups and analysts report an increase in drone strikes that hampered aid operations and took a toll on civilians, despite the army saying it seized control and broke the siege of Kadugli and Dilling. At least 77 people were killed in various attacks in Kordofan due to drone warfare in February.
A U.N. convoy reached Dilling and Kadugli with aid for more than 130,000 people, the first major delivery in three months, United Nations agencies said Wednesday. However, aid workers are concerned about escalating violence.
Thursday's strike on the aid convoy is the second such incident in less than a month, according to Sudan Doctors Network. Earlier this month, an attack hit a World Food Program aid convoy in North Kordofan.
On Thursday, a U.N. backed fact-finding mission determined in a report that evidence of crimes committed in late October by the RSF in el-Fasher, the capital city of North Darfur, showed “hallmarks of genocide." Following the release of the report, The United States sanctioned three RSF commanders for their actions in el-Fasher, and called on the group to commit to an immediate ceasefire, the U.S. Treasury Department said.
FILE - Sudanese families displaced from El-Fasher reach out as aid workers distribute food supplies at the newly established El-Afadh camp in Al Dabbah, Sudan's Northern State, Nov. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Marwan Ali, File)
ANTERSELVA, Italy (AP) — Johannes Dale-Skjevdal of Norway was the only biathlete to hit all 20 of his targets in the 15-kilometer mass start race Friday and skied his way to gold — Norway's 17th gold medal of the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics — breaking the record for the most gold medals won by a nation at a single Winter Olympics.
Norway had set the record at the 2022 Beijing Olympics with 16 gold medals.
Dale-Skjevdal had taken the lead after the first standing bout with clean shooting and completed the five laps on newly packed snow and gusty winds in 39 minutes, 17.1 seconds. His teammate Sturla Holm Laegreid only missed one target and finished 10.5 seconds back for silver — his fifth medal of these Olympic Games.
Philipp Horn of Germany only missed one target on his last shooting bout and left the range in third place, but Quentin Fillon Maillet of France, who missed four on the day, chased Horn and passed him on a big hill, taking him to the finish for a bronze, 25.6 seconds behind Dale-Skjevdal.
Fillon Maillet, who was on the gold medal winning team in the mixed relay and men's relay, also won gold in the sprint.
Only the top 30 biathletes compete in the mass start race — based on World Cup rankings and Olympic performance. They ski five, 3-kilometer loops, shooting twice in the prone position and twice standing.
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Campbell Wright, of the United States, competes in the men's 15-kilometer mass start biathlon race at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Anterselva, Italy, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
Sturla Holm Laegreid, of Norway, front, competes in the men's 15-kilometer mass start biathlon race at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Anterselva, Italy, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
Quentin Fillon Maillet, of France, competes in the men's 15-kilometer mass start biathlon race at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Anterselva, Italy, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
Norway's Sturla Holm Laegreid prepares to shoot during the men's biathlon 15-kilometers mass start race at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Anterselva, Italy, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Johannes Dale-Skjevdal, of Norway, crosses the finish line to win gold in the men's 15-kilometer mass start biathlon race at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Anterselva, Italy, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Norway's Johannes Dale-Skjevdal shoots during the men's biathlon 15-kilometers mass start race at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Anterselva, Italy, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Johannes Dale-Skjevdal, of Norway, competes in the men's 15-kilometer mass start biathlon race at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Anterselva, Italy, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
