20 killed in paramilitary attacks on camps in Sudan

Khartoum, Dec 28 At least 20 civilians were killed and 17 others injured in attacks by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on two displacement camps in El Fasher city in Sudan, a local government official said on Saturday.

"Last night (Friday), a RSF militia drone dropped four bombs on Qoz Bena school, a camp hosting hundreds of displaced people in El Fasher, killing 19 civilians and injuring 16 others," Ibrahim Khatir, director-general of North Darfur State's health department said.

"This morning, the militia launched artillery shelling on Abu Shouk displacement camp, north of El Fasher, killing a civilian and injuring a girl," he added. The RSF has not issued any comment on the attack on the Abu Zeriga area.

Earlier on December 4, Sudan's Darfur region governor announced that 20 civilians had been killed in an attack by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in an area in North Darfur State in Sudan.

"The RSF committed a massacre in the Abu Zeriga area, south of El Fasher city, killing 20 civilians and injuring 20 others," Governor Minni Arko Minnawi said in a post on his Facebook page.

Minnawi said that the attack had taken place on December 3.

He called on the international community and humanitarian organisations to send international investigation teams to document the crimes and work to bring the perpetrators to justice.

He further urged aid organisations to intensify efforts to provide humanitarian assistance to the affected population amid the deepening humanitarian crisis in the region.

In the meantime, the non-governmental Sudanese Doctors Network said the attack had left 21 civilians dead and 13 others wounded.

Since May 10, fierce clashes had raged in El Fasher between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the RSF, which had been embroiled in a brutal conflict.

Sudan had been gripped by a devastating conflict between the SAF and the RSF since mid-April 2023, which had claimed at least 29,683 lives and displaced over 14 million people, either inside or outside Sudan, according to the latest estimates by international organizations.