Dozens of people were killed in fighting in the Sudanese town of El Fashir this weekend, a civil society group said Sunday, raising fears for more than 2.5 million civilians trapped there as paramilitary forces encircle the city — the last one in the region outside their control.
At least 38 civilians were killed, 189 injured and “many houses” destroyed, he said. “The hospital is calling for blood donations, they say the numbers of wounded are over their capacity.”
The man spoke on the condition of anonymity because the paramilitary Rapid Support Force (RSF) has previously targeted civilian activists when it has seized territory.
It’s still not clear if the fighting — which has involved airstrikes, rockets and machine guns in civilian neighborhoods — represents an all-out assault on the city or is a prelude to a larger attack. Any attempt by the RSF to seize the city would likely result in a bloodbath.
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A power struggle between the paramilitary RSF and the military plunged Sudan, a Horn of Africa nation of 50 million people, into civil war 13 months ago. Gradually, other forces have joined the fighting, including the heavily armed former Black African rebel groups based in El Fashir, which announced an alliance with the military last year after months of neutrality.
Many residents fear their ethnicity will make them a target if the RSF takes El Fashir — the capital of the North Darfur region — but they say there is nowhere left to run to and they are determined to make a stand.
Abdo Musa Hassan, the medical director of El Fashir South Hospital, said on Sunday he was too busy to give a death toll. But he said the hospital was already overwhelmed and patients were being treated on the ground, in a tent or on balconies. Medical resupplies had been cut off two weeks ago after the RSF seized control of the Melit area, which links El Fashir to the rest of Sudan, he said.
“Most of the bodies were burned as a result of missile strikes,” he said. “We have a major problem with medical equipment and medicines. Surgical equipment has been completely destroyed.”
Fighting on the eastern outskirts of El Fashir erupted Friday and reached the city center but died down by nightfall, residents said. Major fighting broke out again Sunday, with civilians trying to flee by foot or by donkey cart into safer neighborhoods. Some reported they were afraid to leave the city because all surrounding areas were held by the RSF.
Only a trickle of food has reached the city since the RSF seized the main road; prices of fuel and water have also shot up, residents said.
The RSF issued a statement blaming the military and its allies for launching Friday’s attack, which it said “led to significant civilian casualties in residential neighborhoods and IDP camps.” The military did not respond to requests for comment.
A military airstrike very close to Babiker Nahar Pediatric Hospital killed two children and a caregiver on Saturday evening, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said in a statement. The strike collapsed the roof of the intensive care unit, the group said, noting it was one of the few facilities specializing in the treatment of sick children that had managed to keep operating during the war.
The aid agency said 160 wounded people — including 31 women and 19 children — arrived at the MSF-supported South Hospital in El Fashir on Saturday.
On Sunday, an RSF officer based in Omdurman, next to the capital, Khartoum, told The Post that many of his fighters were being summoned to El Fashir. Tribal militias allied with the RSF had also been called and promised looting if the city was taken, he said, adding he had told his family to leave the city.
A soldier affiliated with the former rebel movements told The Post they had summoned more fighters from neighboring Libya — where many work as mercenaries — to strengthen their military positions and that fighters were gathering in several areas before heading to El Fashir.
