At least 13 civilians were killed and 19 others wounded on Monday when the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) targeted residential neighborhoods in El Fasher, capital of North Darfur in western Sudan, with artillery bombardment, volunteer groups reported.
The Sudan Doctors Network said in a statement that the casualties included seven children and a pregnant woman, and that there are more bodies and injuries trapped in the affected areas, with the exact number unknown. It condemned the attack as “a full-fledged war crime.”
A medical source at El Fasher’s Saudi Hospital told Xinhua on condition of anonymity that the hospital received “no fewer than 12 bodies and about 20 injured individuals,” amid severe shortages of medical staff and supplies.
The Resistance Committees in El Fasher warned in a statement that more than a million civilians remain trapped in the city without protection, safe corridors, or meaningful international intervention.
While the RSF claimed on Monday control of key military sites in El Fasher, including the Medical Corps headquarters of the Sudanese Armed Forces’ (SAF’s) 6th Infantry Division, the Joint Force of the SAF and its allied armed groups in a statement denied any RSF gains, saying they had repelled the RSF’s attack in El Fasher and “neutralised” a larger number of RSF fighters.
Violent clashes have been ongoing in El Fasher since May 2024, between the SAF and allied forces on one side and the RSF on the other, with fighting intensifying in recent days.
Sudan remains gripped by a broader conflict between the SAF and RSF, which erupted in April 2023. The fighting has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions, deepening the country’s humanitarian crisis.
