RSF shelling of elFasher intensifies Darfur siege

At least several civilians were killed and dozens wounded on Saturday as paramilitary Rapid Support Forces fighters launched heavy shelling on elFasher, the besieged capital of North Darfur, further intensifying a siege that has trapped hundreds of thousands of people for more than 500 days. Local medical groups and aid monitors described strikes on densely populated areas including the central market and Awlad al-Reef neighbourhood, and said the bombardment came amid renewed ground assaults and an expanding network of sand berms that now encircle much of the city.

Accounts of casualties varied. The Sudan Doctors Network said the shelling killed 24 people and wounded 55, including five women. A separate medical source who could be reached only via satellite internet because of communications blackouts reported seven dead and 71 wounded, adding that scores of the injured could not reach hospitals because of the intensity of the bombardment. A war monitoring group also reported an army drone strike on a clinic in Nyala that killed at least 12 people on Saturday, underscoring a wider spike in violence across Darfur.

Witnesses, aid workers and satellite analysts described elFasher...