Dozens killed in RSF drone strike on hospital in North Darfur
January 25, 2025 (EL FASHER) – A drone strike on a hospital in Sudan’s North Darfur region killed more than 70 people and wounded dozens on Friday night, the Sudanese government said, blaming the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for the attack.
The strike targeted the Saudi Hospital in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur. According to local sources, the hospital reportedly provided only limited first aid services after repeated attacks.
Darfur region governor Minni Minawi said on social media platform X that an RSF drone had struck the hospital’s emergency department, killing patients, including women and children.
The director-general of the North Darfur health ministry, Ibrahim Khatir, told the Sudan Tribune that at least 70 people were killed and 100 others injured in what was the only functioning hospital in the state, according to the publication. Reuters could not independently verify these numbers.
Sudan’s foreign ministry, in a statement on Saturday, called the strike a “heinous crime” and a “new embodiment of the genocide strategy” it accuses the RSF of pursuing. It said the attack was a response to recent RSF military defeats.
The ministry said the RSF’s actions were enabled by international inaction and the U.N. Security Council’s failure to enforce its resolution 2736, which called for a cessation of hostilities. It also urged international bodies to hold the RSF’s sponsors accountable, who it said were providing the group with drones.
There was no immediate comment from the RSF.
El Fasher is the last major city in Darfur that is not under RSF control. The group has been besieging the city for months as part of a broader conflict with the Sudanese army that began in April 2023.
The Sudanese army has accused the United Arab Emirates of supplying the RSF with drones, including Chinese-made Long Wing 2 models, and said some were launched from inside Chadian territory.
The UAE has not responded to these accusations.
The RSF has stepped up its use of drones in recent months to attack civilian and military targets in El Fasher, according to the army and witnesses.
The conflict in Sudan erupted in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and the RSF, displacing millions and creating a severe humanitarian crisis.