At least 75 people were killed on Friday after Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) launched a drone strike on a mosque in the Abu Shouk camp for displaced people near El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur.
According to the Emergency Response Room, a local volunteer group, the strike targeted worshippers at the mosque inside the camp. “The bodies were retrieved from the rubble of the mosque,” the group said in a statement. The RSF has not issued an immediate comment on the attack.
El-Fasher Under Siege
El-Fasher has been under siege for nearly 18 months and is the last state capital in Darfur still controlled by Sudan’s national army. If the RSF captures the city, it would consolidate their territorial dominance across the entire Darfur region.
The attack highlights the growing intensity of the conflict, which began in April 2023 between the RSF and Sudan’s armed forces. Rights groups and the United Nations have previously reported mass atrocities in Darfur, including ethnically targeted killings.
Satellite Imagery Shows RSF Advance
New satellite imagery released by Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab on Thursday revealed RSF forces advancing on several fronts around El-Fasher. This included positions near Abu Shouk camp and the former UNAMID peacekeeping base, now occupied by anti-RSF Joint Forces.
Communication Blackout and Humanitarian Crisis
The city remains under a communications blackout, making it nearly impossible to verify casualty figures or coordinate emergency aid. The war has already killed tens of thousands and displaced nearly 12 million people, creating what the UN describes as the world’s largest displacement and hunger crisis.
As the RSF pushes deeper into El-Fasher, international concern is growing over the fate of civilians caught in the fighting. Humanitarian agencies warn that without urgent intervention, Darfur risks sliding into even greater catastrophe.
