Deadly clashes between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Darfur’s city of El Fasher have resulted in about 27 fatalities and 130 injuries, as reported by the United Nations on Sunday.
Residents speaking to AFP via phone confirmed that airstrikes targeted both the eastern and northern parts of El Fasher, accompanied by reciprocal artillery shelling.
The international community has been warning of the escalating risk of violent clashes in El Fasher for several weeks. The city, capital of North Darfur state, remains the only major urban center in Darfur still under the control of government forces in the troubled western region of Sudan.
The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) confirmed the clashes on May 10th, stating that they led to the deaths of nearly 27 people, with around 130 others wounded and hundreds displaced.
On Saturday evening, the head of the UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs, Clementine Nkweta-Salami, highlighted the threat posed by heavy shelling to approximately 800,000 displaced people residing in El Fasher, where the total population is estimated at one and a half million.
The UN’s announcement of the casualty toll, based on “unconfirmed reports,” comes amidst near-total communication blackout in the city, severely hindering communication with external aid and human rights organizations.
A medical source at El Fasher South Hospital, the only operational hospital in the city, informed AFP that the morgue is overwhelmed with bodies.
Meanwhile, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reported on Saturday that 160 wounded individuals, including 31 women and 19 children, were admitted to the hospital, which the UN indicates has a capacity of only “a hundred beds.”
According to the UN statement, the hospital lacked ambulances to transport the wounded during the clashes, had limited supplies of medicines and medical equipment to treat the injured, and lacked essential surgical supplies.
1.7 million Sudanese in Darfur are facing the risk of famine due to the ongoing conflict.
Fighting between the army and the RSF has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and displacement of over 8.7 million Sudanese from their homes.
