A shelling and drone attack by the Sudanese Rapid Support Forces hit a shelter in a besieged city in the Darfur region, killing at least 53 people, a doctors’ group said Saturday.
The Sudan Doctors’ Network says at least 14 children and 15 women were among the dead in the attack late Friday by the RSF, on the city of El-Fasher.
The attack also left 21 people wounded, including five children and seven women, the group said. Most of the wounded suffered serious injuries, it said.
The attack targeted al-Arqam Home, a shelter for displaced families in El-Fasher, the provincial capital of North Darfur, the group said. The shelter is located at the Omdurman Islamic University.
“This massacre represents a continuation of the scorched-earth policy practiced by the Rapid Support Forces against civilians, in flagrant violation of all international norms and laws,” the medical group said.
Mashad Organization, a rights group, described the attack as “one of the most atrocious massacres” since the RSF began its offensive on the city more than a year ago, and said it amounted to an "act of genocide carried out before the yes of a silent world.”
El-Fasher has for months the epicenter of the fighting between the Sudanese military and the paramilitaries. The city is the military’s last stronghold in Darfur.
