RSF shelling kills 25 in Darfur displacement camp, hospital hit

August 26, 2024 (EL FASHER) – At least 25 people were killed and dozens wounded when shells hit a camp for displaced people in Sudan’s North Darfur state on Monday, officials said, the latest attack in a region where violence has surged since April.

The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been battling the army in North Darfur’s capital El Fasher since mid-May, following the outbreak of a nationwide conflict between the two sides.

The paramilitary group has been accused of targeting civilians and looting in El Fasher, where it has besieged hundreds of thousands of people.

Health ministry official Ibrahim Khater said 25 people had been killed and 40 wounded in the shelling of the Abu Shouk camp, home to some 400,000 displaced people.

A local resistance committee put the death toll at more than 20, with 32 wounded.

Witnesses said the RSF also shelled residential areas and a police hospital, forcing it to close. The RSF could not immediately be reached for comment.

The conflict in Darfur has revived memories of a brutal civil war in the early 2000s that led to the creation of the RSF.

The Abu Shouk attack is likely to raise further concerns about the humanitarian situation in El Fasher, where aid groups have warned of shortages of food and medicine.