A shelling and drone attack by the Sudanese paramilitary forces hit a shelter in a besieged city in the Darfur region, killing at least 53 people, a doctors’ group said Saturday. The onslaught was the latest in Sudan’s more than two-year war.

The Sudan Doctors’ Network, a group of medical professionals tracking the war, says at least 14 children and 15 women were among the dead in the attack late Friday by the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, on the city of el-Fasher.

The attack also left 21 people wounded, including five children and seven women, the group said. Most of the wounded suffered serious injuries, it said.

The attack targeted al-Arqam Home, a shelter for displaced families in el-Fasher, the provincial capital of North Darfur, the group said. The shelter is located at the Omdurman Islamic University.

“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 medical group said.

The RSF did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Mashad Organization, a rights group, described the attack as “one of the most atrocious massacres” since the RSF began its offensive on the city more than a year ago, and said it amounted to an “act of genocide carried out before the yes of a silent world.”

El-Fasher has for months the epicenter of the fighting between the Sudanese military and the paramilitaries. The city is the military’s last stronghold in Darfur.

The paramilitary forces, who have regularly bombed the city, imposed a total blockade in July. The United Nations and other aid groups warn that 260,000 civilians remain trapped in the city after most of its population fled RSF attacks. Residents of el-Fasher are also suffering from hunger and disease outbreaks, including cholera, according to the U.N.

Sudan plunged into chaos when simmering tensions between the military and the RSF exploded into open fighting in April 2023 in the capital of Khartoum and elsewhere. The fighting escalated into a full-fledged war that has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced over 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 killings and rape, which the International Criminal Court is investigating as war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Source: AP

–Agencies

An attack on an open market in the Sudanese city of Omdurman by a paramilitary group killed 54 people and wounded at least 158, health authorities said Saturday.

The attack by the Rapid Support Forces on the Sabrein Market was the latest in a series of deadly attacks in the escalated civil war that has wrecked the northeastern African country.

There was no immediate comment from the RSF, which has been battling the military since April 2023.

Khalid al-Aleisir, minister of culture and government spokesperson, condemned the attack, saying that the casualties included many women and children. He said the attack caused widespread destruction.

“This criminal act adds to the bloody record of this militia,” he said in a statement. “It constitutes a blatant violation of international humanitarian law.”

Sudan’s Doctors Syndicate said one mortar shell hit meters (yards) away from Al-Naw Hospital, which received most of the market casualties. It said most of the bodies were of women and children, adding that the hospital has a significant shortage of medical teams, especially surgeons and nurses.

A video posted on social media by correspondent Nezar Bogdawi from Saudi-owned Al Arabiya TV showed multiple body bags numbered and placed next to each other outside the hospital. The wounded being treated, some on the hospital floor, included a man with a chest wound, another with a leg injury, and a man with a head wound.

Last week, about 70 people were killed in a RSF attack on the only functional hospital in the besieged city of El Fasher in the western region of Darfur.

The conflict has killed more than 28,000 people, has forced millions to flee their homes and has left some families eating grass in a desperate attempt to survive as famine sweeps parts of the country.

It has been marked by gross atrocities including ethnically motivated killing and rape, according the United Nations and rights groups.

The International Criminal Court said it was investigating alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. The U.S. has accused the RSF and its proxies of committing genocide in the war.

In recent months the RSF has suffered multiple battlefield blows, giving the military the upper hand in the war. It has lost control of many areas in Khartoum, the capital’s sister city of Omdurman, and the eastern and central provinces.

The military also regained control of the city of Wad Medani, the capital of Gezira province, and the country’s largest oil refinery.

Source: AP

–Agencies