At least 91 civilians were killed in Sudan’s besieged city of El-Fasher within just 10 days last month, according to the United Nations. The victims died in a wave of attacks carried out by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), as fighting intensifies between Sudan’s military and the paramilitary group.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk confirmed that the Daraja Oula neighborhood endured repeated RSF shelling, drone strikes, and ground incursions between September 19 and 29. Türk urged immediate international action to prevent “large-scale, ethnically-driven attacks and atrocities” in the city.
On Wednesday, the RSF reportedly fired a missile that killed 16 people, including three women, and injured 21 others, among them five children. The Sudan Doctors Network described the incident as a “massacre,” noting that residential areas were deliberately targeted. This attack followed two earlier strikes: one on a market that killed 15 people, and another on a mosque that left at least 70 dead.
El-Fasher remains the Sudanese military’s last stronghold in Darfur, a region that has become the epicenter of the civil war. Since the conflict began in 2023, more than 40,000 people have been killed and 12 million displaced, according to the World Health Organization. The World Food Program warns that over 24 million Sudanese now face acute food insecurity.
Civilians in El-Fasher are enduring dire conditions under the RSF siege. Aid workers report severe shortages of food, water, and medicine. Journalists trapped inside the city also face targeted violence, including arrests and sexual assaults, as documented by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
Despite these challenges, limited aid was delivered by the Sudanese military earlier this week through a rare airdrop. Meanwhile, Egypt has expressed support for efforts to end the siege, though details remain unclear.
The situation in Darfur highlights the escalating humanitarian crisis as both warring sides continue to battle for control, leaving civilians and journalists in grave danger.
