Drone strike kills 75 in Sudan

At least 75 people have been killed in a drone strike on a mosque in Sudan’s western city of El-Fasher, carried out by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The attack took place on Friday, September 19.

Local volunteer organisation Emergency Response Group told France 24 that the strike targeted a mosque at the Abu Shouk camp in North Darfur. In a statement, the group said bodies were recovered from the rubble.

The RSF has yet to comment on the incident, but reports suggest the strike was part of its bid to take full control of Darfur.

El-Fasher has been under RSF siege for 18 months. It remains the last area in Darfur still under army control. Fighting between the army and the RSF broke out in April 2023, escalating into a devastating civil war. Should El-Fasher fall, the entire Darfur region would come under RSF control.

The United Nations and rights groups say atrocities including massacres are being committed amid the conflict. A recent report by Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab, based on satellite images, shows RSF fighters advancing around the area, including Abu Shouk camp and a former UNAMID peacekeepers’ base, now used by anti-RSF forces.

Sudan’s war continues to claim countless civilian lives daily, leaving millions displaced and facing acute food shortages.