Sudanese paramilitary forces shelled North Darfur’s besieged capital El-Fasher on Saturday, killing at least 17 civilians and injuring 25 others, a medical source told AFP.
Speaking anonymously for safety reasons, the source at El-Fasher hospital said these numbers only account for those who reached the hospital, adding that others were buried by their families, unable access medical centres due to ongoing security challenges.
Since May last year, El-Fasher has been under siege by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) which have been battling Sudan’s army since April 2023.
According to the local resistance committee — one of hundreds of volunteer groups documenting atrocities during the conflict — the attack involved heavy artillery shelling by the RSF across several residential neighbourhoods.
The bombardment began early Saturday and continued well into the afternoon, causing widespread destruction and sparking fresh waves of displacement, the committee said in a statement.
It also described the assault as one of the deadliest recent attacks on the city, resulting in numerous casualties and severe damage to property and infrastructure.
A few kilometres to the north, paramilitaries also shelled the famine-stricken Abu Shouk displacement camp, causing casualties, according to the camp’s Emergency Response Room, which has been coordinating frontline aid throughout the war.
The camp suffered significant damage, with many injured and properties destroyed, local rescuers said.
Following the RSF’s loss of Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, to the army in March, El-Fasher and nearby displacement camps have been targeted in renewed attacks.
In April, a major RSF offensive on the nearby Zamzam camp displaced tens of thousands, many of whom sought refuge in El-Fasher.
The ongoing war between Sudan’s army and the RSF has killed tens of thousands, displaced millions and triggered what the United Nations calls the world’s largest displacement and hunger crisis.
The conflict has effectively divided the country, with the army controlling the north, east and centre while the RSF holds much of Darfur and parts of the south.
Last year, famine was declared in three camps near El-Fasher, including Abu Shouk and Zamzam. The UN has warned the crisis would extend into the city itself by last May, although a lack of data has so far prevented an official famine declaration.
bur-maf/ysm
© Agence France-Presse
