Sudan army repels RSF attack in El Fasher, hospital hit by shelling

January 2 2024 (EL FASHER) – The Sudanese army said on Thursday it had thwarted a planned attack by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on El Fasher, coinciding with New Year celebrations. The RSF also shelled the city’s main hospital, causing extensive damage.

Fighting between the army and the RSF has raged in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, since May. The army said its forces, backed by air support, “destroyed combat vehicles and killed a large number of RSF fighters” who were planning to attack the city during New Year festivities.

The army’s 6th Infantry Division reported that an RSF drone targeted residential areas and shelters but caused no casualties. Three RSF “suicide drones” were shot down by army air defences, it added.

The army also claimed that an RSF drone launch attempt in southern El Fasher backfired, killing an RSF fighter identified as a Mauritanian national, along with Brigadier General Ibrahim Delib and Hamida Abbas and more than 30 other RSF personnel.

The Sudanese army has previously accused the United Arab Emirates of supplying the RSF with drones, some of which are allegedly launched from Chad.

The director general of the health ministry in North Darfur, Ibrahim Khater, said the Saudi Hospital was hit by 11 artillery shells in the latest attack, the thirteenth time the facility has been targeted since the conflict began.

Khater condemned the “international silence” over RSF attacks on civilians and medical facilities in North Darfur. The Saudi Hospital is the only functioning surgical facility in El Fasher, he said.