Violence erupts in a city under siege by Sudan's Rapid Support Forces, leaving seven people dead and 71 wounded.
El-Fasher, the last major city in the western Darfur region under army control, is experiencing intense violence as the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) engage in war.
According to reports, the RSF has confined the Sudanese army and its allied militias to less than five square miles in El-Fasher. The RSF launched its fiercest offensive yet on El-Fasher on Sunday, resulting in at least seven deaths and 71 injuries. Among the wounded, 22 were reported to be in a critical condition.
The medical source reported that the true toll from Saturday's attack was likely higher due to many injured being unable to reach the hospital due to the intensity of the RSF's strikes.
The RSF's offensive has led to severe shortages of water and food for the besieged population of El-Fasher, estimated by the UN at some 300,000. Famine was officially declared in three displacement camps around El-Fasher last year, and the UN warned it could spread to the city itself by last May. Many in El-Fasher have resorted to eating animal fodder due to food shortages.
Yale University's Humanitarian Research Lab revealed that the RSF had constructed more than 31 kilometers of berms, creating a literal kill box in the city. This revelation was made public by Amnesty International on May 25, 2023.
The RSF's siege of El-Fasher has escalated in recent weeks, using artillery barrages and ground incursions into densely populated neighborhoods, the city's airport, and the Abu Shouk displacement camp. Hospitals in El-Fasher have been repeatedly bombarded, and the local police headquarters has been captured by the RSF.
Local activists reported that the attack struck several neighborhoods in the city's west near the airport, which RSF forces have sought to capture. Desperate attempts to escape from El-Fasher often result in death from exposure, starvation, or violence.
In the early 2000s, the RSF led a government-orchestrated campaign of ethnic cleansing against non-Arab ethnic groups in Darfur, killing an estimated 300,000 people. The RSF has been accused of genocide, sexual violence, and systematic looting during the conflict.
Experts have warned that the city's non-Arab Zaghawa tribe may face a similar fate to the non-Arab Massalit tribe in West Darfur's state capital of El-Geneina, where up to 15,000 people were killed in 2023 massacres blamed on RSF forces.
Raymond, a local activist, stated that the Janjaweed are about to win the entire genocide that began in the early 21st century, and the world isn't doing anything about it. The RSF recently announced the formation of a parallel government in the region. If successful in capturing El-Fasher, the RSF would control all five Darfur state capitals.
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