A drone strike by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) killed 43 civilians, including elderly worshipers and children, inside a mosque in El Fasher, the besieged capital of North Darfur, according to the Sudan Doctors Network. The medical group condemned the attack as a “heinous crime” on X, accusing the RSF of flagrant disregard for humanitarian values and international law.
The strike targeted Muslim worshipers during prayers, reducing parts of the mosque to rubble, as shown in unverified footage posted by the El Fasher Resistance Committees, a local group of human rights activists tracking abuses.
The attack is part of a series of escalating clashes in El Fasher, the Sudanese military’s last stronghold in Darfur, where the RSF and army have been locked in intense fighting. Since April 2023, Sudan’s civil war has claimed over 40,000 lives, displaced 12 million people, and pushed many toward famine, according to the World Health Organization.
El Fasher has been a focal point of the conflict for over a year, with Thursday’s fighting concentrated in the city’s western and southern areas, marked by loud explosions and drone activity, per the Darfur Victims Support Organisation.
The Resistance Committees reported that the RSF has also targeted displacement shelters, killing unarmed civilians, including women and elderly individuals, with heavy artillery strikes on residential neighborhoods. The exact location of the mosque was not disclosed, but the attack underscores the worsening violence in El Fasher, where civilians bear the brunt of the conflict.
The Associated Press could not independently verify the footage of the mosque’s destruction, which showed scattered bodies amid debris. As Sudan’s civil war intensifies, the international community faces growing pressure to address the humanitarian crisis and hold perpetrators accountable for violations of international law.
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