North Darfur: 12 killed by El Fasher RSF shelling

12 civilians were killed and several others injured by shelling launched by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on El Fasher on Sunday. The paramilitary force continued to shell the capital city of North Darfur yesterday.

A civilian in the Salaam neighbourhood of El Fasher told Radio Dabanga that artillery shelling occurred on Sunday and Monday in the neighbourhoods of Salaam, El Hirja, Makarka, and El Mawashi.

He confirmed that the artillery shelling by the RSF on Sunday left 12 dead and several wounded in southern El Fasher. The livestock market in El Fasher was closed on Sunday following heavy artillery shelling. The market was reportedly crowded with civilians when it was shelled.

The shelling reportedly followed clashes between the RSF and Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) on Sunday morning in southeastern El Fasher. An RSF drone allegedly targeted the Sixth Infantry Division Command, according to an SAF source who spoke to Radio Dabanga but did not kill or injure any soldiers.

The Sudanese Air Forces reportedly bombed RSF targets in the east of the city yesterday, according to the military source.

A resident of El Fasher told Radio Dabanga that the situation in the city is “tragic.” He explained that the majority of citizens in El Fasher are now “out in the open,” searching for safety and fleeing the “random shelling” by the RSF.

According to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), more than 410,000 people have been displaced from El Fasher over the past six months, many of whom have been forced to relocate multiple times due to the ongoing conflict.

Mudasir Omar Bashir, a Sudanese Congress Party leading member and El Fasher Emergency Room activist, was detained on October 18 by Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM-MM) allied-forces, affiliated with the SAF. According to an El Fasher Emergency Room contact, Karika had recently relocated his family to Zamzam camp amid escalating violence in El Fasher and threats against civil society and activists.

Early October, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) announced that it had been forced to stop outpatient treatment for 5,000 children with acute malnutrition in Zamzam camp for displaced people near El Fasher, “because the warring parties have blocked deliveries of food, medicines, and other essential supplies for months”.

In a series of posts on the MSF Sudan X account, the organisation highlighted that violence against civilians and healthcare facilities continues unabated, resulting in numerous health crises. People are dying from injuries sustained in the fighting, while conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence, alarming rates of malnutrition, and outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases further exacerbate the situation.