The town of El Fasher, located in Sudan's North Darfur State, once again became the scene of brutal violence over the weekend as the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) continued their assault on civilians. Since Friday evening, at least 60 civilians have been killed in RSF drone attacks. This follows a series of RSF attacks earlier last week that left another 53 civilians dead and many more injured.
Initial reports indicate that, on Friday evening and into Saturday morning, drones attacked a location where internally displaced people (IDPs) were sheltering in the Daraja Oula neighborhood of El Fasher. The RSF reportedly carried out the attacks, resulting in the deaths of at least 60 civilians, including 17 children.
"This devastating attack on children and families who were already displaced and seeking safety is an outrage," said Catherine Russell, Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), in a statement on Sunday.
"Killing and injuring children are grave violations of their rights, and attacks on civilians in places meant to offer safety and refuge are unconscionable."
These shocking drone strikes follow a series of attacks earlier last week that were also reportedly carried out by the RSF and left at least 53 civilians dead and more than 60 injured.
Among the 53 reported deaths were at least 7 civilians who were reportedly summarily executed during home-to-home searches during RSF ground attacks. According to the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR), initial information suggests that these killings were ethnically motivated and targeted members of the Zaghawa community.
On Friday, OHCHR confirmed that at least 46 civilians were killed in artillery and drone strikes in the Abu Shouk and Daraja Oula neighborhoods, as well as in the Abu Shouk camp for displaced people, including at least 14 civilians killed during attacks on the Saudi Hospital — the last major functioning healthcare facility in North Darfur.
The hospital, which has repeatedly been attacked and continues to serve thousands of conflict-affected civilians, was already operating at reduced capacity before suffering further substantial damage in the latest attacks. OHCHR noted that preliminary information from the area suggests the death toll may be even higher.
“The attack on this vital facility is a devastating blow to the survival of civilians trapped in the city said Denise Brown, the Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, in a statement on Sunday. She strongly condemned the repeated and deliberate targeting of civilians in North Darfur.
“Hospitals, shelters, and places of refuge must not be targeted. I reiterate my previous appeal for respect for international humanitarian law and an immediate end to attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure,” she said.
“These incidents demand thorough, impartial investigations, and those responsible must be held accountable.”
Brown stressed that the United Nations and its humanitarian partners remain committed to supporting the people of El Fasher and all those impacted by the conflict across Sudan.
“Civilians need to be protected. The humanitarian community requires access, and, above all, the people of Sudan need the violence to stop,” she said.
Horrendous situation in El Fasher
El Fasher has been under siege for over 500 days, and the town and its surrounding areas remain an epicenter of the brutal war that began in April 2023. It is estimated that over 260,000 civilians, including 130,000 children, remain trapped in the town and face constant danger without access to a safe passage out.
Several areas in North Darfur have experienced famine for months, and the state's food security and child nutrition situation has reached catastrophic levels. Severe acute malnutrition among children is sharply rising, and health facilities report an increasing number of child deaths due to hunger and malnutrition.
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), nearly two million people have been displaced from North Darfur since the conflict began, representing nearly 20 percent of all IDPs in Sudan. Over 1 million IDPs have been forced to flee from El Fasher alone.
Before the attacks this past weekend, Volker TĂĽrk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, on Friday had also condemned the continued killing and injuring of civilians in El Fasher in response to reports that dozens were killed and scores more injured by the Rapid Support Forces earlier in the week alone.
"I am appalled by the RSF’s endless and wanton disregard for civilian life," Türk said.
"Despite repeated calls, including my own, for specific care to be taken to protect civilians, they continue to kill, injure, and displace civilians and attack civilian objects, including IDP shelters, hospitals, and mosques with total disregard for international law. This must end."
He urged the “RSF — indeed, all parties to the conflict — to draw lessons from this week’s conviction of Ali Kushayb by the International Criminal Court [ICC] for the war crimes and crimes against humanity he committed in Darfur.”
On Monday, the ICC in The Hague convicted Kushayb, a former senior leader of the Janjaweed militia in West Darfur State, on charges including rape as a war crime and crime against humanity and persecution on political, ethnic, and gender grounds as a crime against humanity, all of which were committed in the Darfur region between 2003 and 2004.
The UN human rights chief also reiterated his call for UN member states with direct influence to urgently protect civilians and prevent further atrocities in El Fasher and across the Darfur region.
Sudan is experiencing the world's largest humanitarian crisis
Since April 15, 2023, the paramilitary RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) have been engaged in a devastating war that has caused an unprecedented humanitarian emergency. As a result, over 30 million people require urgent relief, making this the world's largest humanitarian crisis.
Additionally, Sudan is grappling with the world's largest and most severe displacement crisis. As of September, more than 14 million civilians remain displaced. Over 4 million of those displaced have crossed into neighboring countries, including Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya, South Sudan, and the Central African Republic.
Sudan is also facing the world's largest hunger crisis due to the war. Across the country, approximately 25 million people are experiencing acute hunger. Of those, at least 638,000 are facing catastrophic levels of food insecurity (IPC Phase 5) and 8.1 million are experiencing emergency levels (IPC Phase 4).
Sudan is the only country in the world where famine has been confirmed in multiple areas and continues to spread. Ten locations have been declared famine zones, eight of which are in North Darfur State and two of which are in the Western Nuba Mountains. Another 17 areas, including parts of Darfur, the Nuba Mountains, Khartoum, and Al Jazira, are at risk of famine.
The conflict has been marked by shocking levels of violence and brutality against civilians, particularly in the Darfur and Kordofan regions. The RSF, in particular, has been accused of mass killings and rape as a means of warfare. However, both warring parties have been implicated in serious war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Tens of thousands have been targeted based on their ethnicity, resulting in death, injury, abuse, and exploitation, and forcing more and more people to flee the violence. Human rights investigators have found disturbing evidence indicating that civilians have been deliberately targeted, displaced, and starved.
The Fact-Finding Mission on Sudan, created by the UN Human Rights Council, has documented numerous attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure essential for survival and has concluded that both warring parties have violated international human rights and humanitarian law. Most of these violations amount to war crimes, and actions taken by Rapid Support Forces may constitute crimes against humanity, including persecution and extermination.