Dozens killed in drone assault on Darfur hospital

Assaults on healthcare amenities rampant in besieged el-Fasher, the place army-aligned militias are pushing again RSF fighters.

Dozens of sufferers have been killed in a drone assault on one of many final functioning hospitals in el-Fasher in Sudan’s Darfur area.

Whereas it was not instantly clear who focused the Saudi Hospital on Friday, medical sources quoted by AFP information company stated the identical constructing was hit by a Fast Help Forces (RSF) drone “just a few weeks in the past”.

Friday’s assault killed not less than 30 sufferers within the emergency division, the report added. Regional governor Mini Minawi posted graphic pictures of bloodied our bodies on his X account on Saturday, saying that the assault “exterminated” greater than 70 sufferers, together with girls and youngsters.

The Sudanese military has been at conflict with the paramilitary RSF, who’ve seized almost the complete huge western area of Darfur, since April 2023.

The RSF has besieged el-Fasher, the state capital of North Darfur, since Might, however army-aligned armed teams have repeatedly pushed its fighters again, stopping them from claiming town.

Assaults on healthcare amenities have been rampant in el-Fasher, the place medical charity Docs With out Borders stated this month the Saudi Hospital was “the one public hospital with surgical capability nonetheless standing”.

Throughout the nation, as much as 80 p.c of healthcare amenities have been pressured out of service, in accordance with official figures.

The conflict, which broke out after disputes on the combination of the 2 forces, has killed tens of 1000’s of individuals, pushed thousands and thousands from their properties and plunged half of the inhabitants into starvation.

Within the space round el-Fasher, famine has already taken maintain in three displacement camps – Zamzam, Abu Shouk and Al-Salam – and is predicted to develop to 5 extra areas together with town itself by Might, in accordance with a UN-backed evaluation.

The assault on the hospital in el-Fasher occurred because the Sudanese military claimed to have damaged an RSF siege of its headquarters in Khartoum, in place because the conflict broke out.

In a press release, the military stated troops in Bahri [Khartoum North] and Omdurman had “merged with our forces stationed on the Basic Command of the Armed Forces”.

Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, contains three fundamental cities – Khartoum, Omdurman, and Bahri – separated by the Nile River and collectively known as the triangular capital.

The military added that it had “expelled” the RSF from the strategically essential al-Jili oil refinery north of the capital, the nation’s largest.

The RSF stated in a press release that it rejected the Sudanese military’s claims as “propaganda” designed to spice up morale, and accused it of spreading falsehoods by way of doctored movies.