El Fasher death toll mounts amid calls to destroy RSF artillery
June 23, 2024 (EL FASHER) – The death toll in El Fasher has risen to over 260, with more than a thousand five hundred injured since fighting began in May, according to Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and the Ministry of Health in Darfur. Meanwhile, the governor of North Darfur has called for the destruction of Rapid Support Forces (RSF) artillery bombarding the state capital.
The RSF initiated a siege on El Fasher on May 10th, followed by heavy shelling and fierce clashes with the Sudanese army and its allies. This violence has forced thousands to flee the city.
In a statement, MSF reported that over 260 people have been killed and more than 1,630 injured, including women and children, since the conflict began six weeks ago. The organisation condemned the RSF’s shelling of the Saudi Maternity Hospital’s pharmacy on Friday night, which resulted in the death of a pharmacist and two others nearby.
MSF highlighted the ongoing attacks on hospitals and the obstruction of aid deliveries, despite a UN Security Council plea for a ceasefire. The Saudi Hospital, now only partially operational due to damage, remains the sole functioning medical facility in El Fasher, struggling with limited supplies and staff.
The hospital has been targeted twice since May 10th, part of eight attacks on healthcare facilities in the city. The South Hospital was closed after an RSF attack, while the Hospital for Obstetrics and Gynecology was shut down following an RSF shelling.
On Sunday, indiscriminate shelling by the RSF targeted a dialysis centre treating 94 patients, along with the army command, the main market, and residential areas.
Darfur governor Mini Minawi condemned the RSF’s actions, accusing the paramilitary group of sentencing kidney patients to death by attacking the region’s only treatment centre. He called on the international community to bear witness to these crimes.
The Ministry of Health in Darfur confirmed the rising death toll and the displacement of thousands due to the ongoing violence, which has also destroyed numerous homes.
Calls to bomb RSF artillery
Meanwhile, the acting governor of North Darfur, Al-Hafiz Bakhit, urged army commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan to halt the indiscriminate shelling of El Fasher’s neighbourhoods by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
In a press statement on Sunday, the governor asserted that the army possesses the capability to “destroy the RSF’s artillery and stop the relentless bombardment.”
He called for the army commander’s intervention to break the RSF’s siege on El Fasher and reopen the Al-Dabbah – Mellit – El Fasher road, facilitating the delivery of humanitarian aid and food supplies, as the siege has caused a sharp rise in commodity prices.
Bakhit added, “The majority of the city’s residents are now living outdoors due to the RSF’s systematic and deliberate artillery shelling, aimed at displacing them. These displaced people lack shelter, food, and access to basic humanitarian services.”
The RSF seeks control of El Fasher to consolidate its grip on the entire Darfur region, while the army and its allied armed movements are staunchly defending the city, their last remaining stronghold in western Sudan.
However, observers underscore that such public appeal could indicate that the army leadership did not respond to private requests by the state governor.