DOZENS of people have been killed in a drone strike at a displacement shelter in el-Fasher, a besieged Sudanese city on the brink of collapse, activists said.
The resistance committee for el-Fasher, made up of local citizens and activists, said the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) hit Dar al-Arqam camp, located within a university, with two drone strikes and eight artillery shells. The RSF has denied it carried out the strike.
“Children, women and the elderly were killed in cold blood, and many were completely burned,” a statement from the group said.
Eyewitnesses described scenes of panic as rescuers pulled bodies from the rubble.
Sudan Doctors Network said 57 people were killed in the drone attack, including 17 children, and 17 were injured. Activists said at least 60 people had been killed.
Hospitals already struggling under months of siege have been overwhelmed, with doctors treating the wounded on floors and in corridors.
The RSF has surrounded el-Fasher for the last 17 months, in an attempt to take control of the Sudanese army’s last stronghold in the Darfur region.
The situation in el-Fasher has “gone beyond disaster and genocide”, the resistance group said.
Sudan has been ravished by conflict since 2023, after top commanders of the RSF and Sudanese army fell out and a vicious power struggle ensued – creating one of the worst humanitarian crises.
The army controls most of the north and the east. El-Fasher is the last major urban centre in Darfur still held by the army and its allies. The RSF also controls almost all of Darfur and much of neighbouring Kordofan.
If el-Fasher falls the RSF will control the entire Darfur region, where they hope to form an alternative government.
In recent weeks, the RSF has intensified its assault on el-Fasher, leading experts to believe the city could soon fall unless the army receives immediate reinforcements.
Research showed the RSF had finished building an earthen wall around el-Fasher, bolstering their siege and making it even harder for civilians to escape.
The UN said there were 250,000 civilians trapped in el-Fasher, and warned that continued strikes on civilian areas may amount to war crimes.
Hunger and disease has spread across the city as residents contend with constant bombardment and dwindling food and medical supplies.
Two days ago, at least 13 people were killed after the RSF shelled one of the last remaining hospitals in el-Fasher.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk condemned the continued killing and injuring of civilians on Friday.
“I am appalled by the RSF’s endless and wanton disregard for civilian life,” he said.
More than 150,000 people have died in the conflict across the country, and about 12 million have fled their homes.