AL-FASHIR, Sudan (BN24) — Drone and artillery strikes by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on the besieged city of Al-Fashir, Sudan, have killed at least 60 people, local activists said Saturday, marking one of the deadliest attacks in the city since fighting escalated earlier this year.
The assault began Friday night and continued into Saturday morning, targeting a displacement shelter in Al-Fashir, the last major stronghold held by Sudan’s army in the Darfur region. Local resistance committees said the shelter was struck twice by drones and eight times by artillery shells, leaving many civilians trapped or burned alive inside caravans.
“Bodies remain under the rubble, and others were burned alive inside the shelter caravans, children, women, and elderly killed in cold blood,” the Al-Fashir Resistance Committees said in a statement.
The city has been under siege for months as RSF forces attempt to seize it from the army. The prolonged encirclement has triggered a severe humanitarian crisis, with widespread hunger and disease among the civilian population. Activists say relentless drone and artillery bombardments have repeatedly struck civilian targets, including mosques, hospitals, clinics, and shelters for displaced people.
Residents told Reuters that they have begun digging bunkers in their homes and neighborhoods to protect themselves from the escalating attacks. The resistance committees added that Al-Fashir is losing an average of 30 civilians daily to violence, hunger, and disease.
Human rights monitors and aid groups have warned that the siege of Al-Fashir risks worsening an already dire situation in Darfur, where civilians continue to bear the brunt of Sudan’s brutal civil war.
