A paramilitary drone attack killed at least 53 people in Darfur, a Sudanese doctors’ group said

A bombing and drone attack by Sudanese paramilitary forces hit a shelter in a besieged city in the Darfur region, killing at least 53 people, a doctors’ group said on Saturday.

This attack is the latest in the war that has been going on for more than two years in Sudan.

The Sudan Doctors Network, a group of medical professionals tracking the war, said at least 14 children and 15 women were among those killed in the RSF attack late Friday on the city of El Fasher.

The organization added that the attack also injured 21 people, including five children and seven women.

She added that most of the wounded were seriously injured.

Watch | Description of the “horrific” reality in El Fasher:

The human rights office says the reality on the ground in the Sudanese city of El Fasher is “horrendous.”

Human rights organizations sounded the alarm after a drone attack on a mosque killed at least 70 people in the besieged city of El Fasher in Sudan’s North Darfur region, according to aid workers and the Sudanese army.

The group said that the attack targeted Dar Al-Arqam, a shelter for displaced families in Al-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state. The shelter is located at Omdurman Islamic University.

The medical group said that 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 Rapid Support Forces did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Mashhad, a human rights group, called the attack “one of the most horrific massacres” since the Rapid Support Forces began their assault on the city more than a year ago, and said it amounted to “an act of genocide carried out before the blessings of a silent world.”

For several months, the city of El Fasher remained at the center of fighting between the Sudanese army and paramilitary forces. The city is the last army stronghold in Darfur.

Paramilitary forces, which regularly bomb the city, imposed a complete siege in July. The United Nations and other relief organizations warn that 260,000 civilians are still trapped in the city after most of its residents fled attacks by the Rapid Support Forces. Residents of El Fasher are also suffering from hunger and disease outbreaks, including cholera, according to the United Nations.

Sudan descended into chaos when escalating tensions between the army and the Rapid Support Forces erupted into open fighting in April 2023, in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere. The fighting escalated into an all-out war that killed tens of thousands of people, displaced more than 14 million people from their homes, and pushed parts of the country into famine.

The devastating conflict has also been marked by atrocities including mass murder and rape, which the International Criminal Court is investigating as war crimes and crimes against humanity.