According to officials, Monday’s shelling of a displaced people camp in Sudan’s North Darfur state resulted in at least 25 deaths and numerous injuries. This is the latest incident in an area where violence has increased since April.
Since the middle of May, the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been engaged in combat in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur. This is because the two sides have been engaged in a statewide struggle. Thousands of people have been trapped by the paramilitary organization in El Fasher, and it has been accused of attacking civilians and plundering.
According to Ibrahim Khater, a spokesman from the health ministry, shelling of the Abu Shouk camp, which houses some 400,000 displaced persons, has resulted in 25 deaths and 40 injuries.
A local resistance committee reported that 32 people were injured and that over 20 people had died.
Witnesses claimed that in addition to shelling residential areas, the RSF also closed a police hospital. It took some time to get in touch with the RSF for a comment.
Recollections of a bloody civil war in the early 2000s that resulted in the formation of the RSF have been rekindled by the crisis in Darfur.
Given that relief organizations have warned of food and medication shortages in El Fasher, the attack on Abu Shouk is probably going to cause more worries about the humanitarian situation there.