Sudan: RSF drone strikes leave dozens dead, injured in El Fasher
According to the Sudan Doctors Network, the attacks were deliberate rocket and drone strikes targeting innocent civilians.
At least 16 civilians, including women and children, were killed and 21 wounded on Wednesday in El Fasher, North Darfur, after shelling by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a Sudanese doctors' group said.
According to the Sudan Doctors Network, the attacks were deliberate rocket and drone strikes targeting innocent civilians.
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"In a horrific crime added to the Rapid Support Forces' extensive record of violations, the Rapid Support Forces committed a gruesome massacre in the city of El Fasher on Wednesday," said the Doctors Network in a statement on X.
"The deliberate rocket shelling and drone strikes resulted in the deaths of 16 civilians, including 3 women, and injured 21 others, including 5 children, in a targeted attack on neighbourhoods in El Fasher, North Darfur State."
Separately, the El Fasher Resistance Committees said an RSF drone strike on a civilian gathering in the Al-Daraja neighbourhood killed at least eight people.
"Militia attacks using artillery and drones on civilian areas continue, as a drone today targeted a gathering of civilians in the Al-Daraja Al-Oula neighbourhood, west of El Fasher, leaving eight people dead and several others injured," the group said in a statement.
The attacks came just days after satellite imagery reviewed by the Yale School of Public Health's Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL) revealed that RSF had deployed at least 43 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) at Nyala airport in South Darfur.
According to HRL, the drones were not present in imagery from September 26, highlighting a rapid military expansion at the RSF-controlled airbase and a "sign of imminent attack".
"The presence of this combination of UAVs in the position observed should be considered a sign of imminent attack. These UAVs represent a clear and present danger to civilians, critical infrastructure, and humanitarian aid access," said HRL in an emergency alert on Monday.
The fighting in El Fasher is part of a broader conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the RSF that began in April 2023. El Fasher is strategically important as the last major city in North Darfur still under SAF control, making it a key target for the RSF in its efforts to expand influence in the region.
The ongoing clashes have killed tens of thousands and displaced millions, worsening Sudan's humanitarian crisis and leaving many residents without access to food, medical care or safe shelter.
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