Attack in Sudan's North Darfur kills civilians

Three civilians have been killed and 20 wounded in a drone attack by paramilitaries in the western Sudanese town of El-Fasher in North Darfur, activists said on Sunday.

The local resistance committee, one of hundreds of volunteer groups coordinating aid across Sudan, said in a statement the attack took place on Saturday night.

It said the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which have been battling the regular army since mid-April 2023, targeted "Awlad al-Reef neighbourhood in the centre of the city with four high-explosive missiles, killing three civilians and injuring more than 20 others with serious wounds".

El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, has been under paramilitary siege since May.

Last foothold in Darfur

The city has seen fierce clashes as both sides fight to secure a last foothold in the Darfur region.

Nearly all of Darfur is now controlled by the RSF, which has also taken over swathes of the southern Kordofan region and central Sudan, while the army holds the north and east.

Both are battling for full control of the capital Khartoum, 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) east of El-Fasher.

The army-aligned health ministry said another drone attack on Friday killed nine people and wounded 20 at the main hospital in El-Fasher, forcing it to halt operations.

Attacks on healthcare facilities 'deplorable'

The RSF targeted the facility known as the Saudi Hospital with "four drone-guided missiles", a health ministry statement said.

It said the attack "struck areas where patients' companions were gathered as well as key locations of the hospital."

In a post on X Saturday, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described continued attacks on healthcare facilities across Sudan as "deplorable".

"We urge for the protection of all patients and health professionals, and for all attacks on and around health facilities to stop," he added.

Deadly war

The war in Sudan has killed thousands of people and displaced more than 11 million, creating what the United Nations calls one of the worst humanitarian disasters in recent memory.

Both the army and the RSF have been accused of indiscriminately targeting civilians and medical facilities, as well as deliberately bombing residential areas.

Sudan's army launched one of its deadliest air strikes last week on a market in North Darfur, killing more than 100 people, according to a pro-democracy lawyers' group.

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