According to a new United Nations report released this Friday, at least 780 civilians were killed and more than a thousand injured in El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, Sudan. El-Fasher has been besieged by paramilitaries since May 2024.
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This week, the city’s main hospital was the target of intense RSF attacks. This was also the case in the city center and in a famine-affected displacement camp in North Darfur. “ The ongoing siege of El-Fasher and incessant fighting devastate lives on a large scale daily », denounced the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk.
Whether it is the army, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan or the paramilitaries of General Hemedti’s Rapid Support Forces (FSR), both parties in the conflict have been accused of indiscriminately bombing both medical facilities and civilians, as well as deliberately attacking residential areas.
Almost all of Darfur is now under RSF control, while the army controls parts of the north and east. According to testimonies collected by theUNfor seven months the RSF have regularly bombed densely populated areas while the army carries out airstrikes and artillery bombardments.
WFP office targeted by bombing in Blue Nile state
On Thursday, one of the World Food Program (WFP) campaign offices was targeted by an aerial bombardment in Yabus, Blue Nile State. An attack which cost the lives of three employees of the UN agency. Among the victims was an operational manager and a security guard, who “ were carrying out life-saving activities on the frontline of one of the world’s most serious food crises “, indicated the WFP in a press release.
Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary General, said he was “scandalized” by this attack, while Cindy McCain, the executive director of the UN agency, demanded “ a careful investigation » on this matter.
El-Fasher has been at the heart of the fight between the two generals since April 2023; the objective of the FSR headquarters is to dislodge the regular army from one of its last points of support. Since 2023, the fighting has left tens of thousands dead and more than 11 million displaced.