Sudan civil war: 10 civilians killed, 20 wounded after RSF shelling in Darfur's El-Fasher

Shelling by Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on Wednesday (December 18) killed 10 civilians and wounded 20 in North Darfur’s besieged capital, El-Fasher, including strikes on the city’s main hospital, activists said.

The bombardment hit the Saudi Hospital and other areas in the city, according to the local resistance committee, a volunteer group coordinating aid amid Sudan’s 20-month war between the RSF and the regular army.

“10 civilians killed and 20 injured…inside the city of El-Fasher and the Saudi Hospital,” the group said in a statement.

Second debilitating attack by RSF

The Saudi Hospital had already been targeted on Friday (December 13), when RSF shelling killed nine people and temporarily forced the facility to close. The attack destroyed wards, pharmacies, and the operating theatre, the committee said.

AFP quoted a doctor speaking on condition of anonymity for safety reasons, as saying that the hospital’s emergency department had been completely destroyed.

El-Fasher, home to around two million people, has been under RSF siege since May and remains one of the most fiercely contested battlegrounds in the conflict. The army is struggling to maintain its hold on the city, its last significant position in the Darfur region.

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Civil war continues to wreak havoc

Last week, a military airstrike on a market in North Darfur killed over 100 people, according to a pro-democracy lawyers’ group.

The RSF now controls most of Darfur, neighboring Kordofan, and large parts of central Sudan. The regular army retains control in the north and east, while Khartoum and surrounding areas remain a battleground.

The war has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced over 11 million, creating what the United Nations describes as one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Both the RSF and the army have been accused of indiscriminately targeting medical facilities, civilians, and residential areas.

With inputs from AFP