Over 320 casualties in Rapid Support Forces attacks on El Fasher: Sudanese committee

KHARTOUM, Sudan/ANKARA

At least 320 people were killed or wounded in recent attacks by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on Sudan’s city of El Fasher and surrounding areas in North Darfur, a local resistance group announced early Sunday.

In a statement, the El Fasher Resistance Coordination, a grassroots committee, reported that Saturday’s RSF shelling led to a rising death toll and catastrophic humanitarian conditions, especially in Zamzam camp, where medical services have completely collapsed.

“All hospitals have shut down, and all medical staff and volunteers in the camp have been killed,” the committee said, warning that the death toll continues to rise as five injured people are dying every hour due to the lack of medical care and absence of rescue teams.

The RSF began its latest offensive on El Fasher on May 10, despite international warnings over renewed violence in the city, which serves as a vital humanitarian hub for all five Darfur states.

On Saturday, the Sudanese Doctors’ Network said RSF fighters executed 10 medical personnel over a 48-hour period.

In a separate statement, the General Coordination for Displaced Persons and Refugees in Darfur, another grassroots group, said RSF artillery targeted the Abu Shouk camp during Maghrib prayer (dusk prayer) on Saturday evening, killing multiple displaced civilians.

Earlier that day, heavy shelling on the same camp killed at least five civilians and injured several others, with no emergency response available due to the collapse of the health system, the group said.

The resistance committee accused the RSF of deliberately targeting unarmed civilians and called for an immediate halt to the violence.

It also issued an urgent humanitarian appeal to international and regional organizations to provide assistance and open safe corridors to evacuate civilians.

The RSF has not directly addressed the situation, but in a statement Saturday evening, the group reiterated its “commitment to protecting civilians and respecting international humanitarian law.”

Meanwhile, the Sudanese army said Saturday that the death toll from the ongoing RSF attacks on displaced persons in El Fasher had risen from 25 to 74.

Since April 15, 2023, the RSF has been battling the Sudanese army for control of the country, resulting in thousands of deaths and one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

More than 20,000 people have been killed and 15 million others displaced, according to the UN and local authorities. Research from US scholars, however, estimates the death toll at around 130,000.