Skip to main content
PulseWire News

Tragic Attack on Hospital Claims 13 Lives in El-Fasher, Sudan

A brutal shelling of a hospital in the embattled Sudanese city of El-Fasher has left at least 13 dead, including medical staff, amid an intensifying siege by the paramilitary group RSF.

Source: bbc.co.uk1 min read
Tragic Attack on Hospital Claims 13 Lives in El-Fasher, Sudan
Image via bbc.co.uk

In brief

In El-Fasher, Sudan, a hospital came under fierce shelling by the Rapid Support Forces, killing 13 and injuring 16. The attack has drawn condemnation as a war crime, highlighting the humanitarian crisis as the city remains under prolonged siege for over 17 months. Experts warn of imminent catastrophe as fighting escalates and aid remains blocked.

At least 13 people have been killed after an attack on one of the last remaining hospitals in el-Fasher, a Sudanese city trapped under siege.

Sixteen others, including a doctor and nurse, were injured after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) shelled Saudi hospital several times on Tuesday night, a source there told the BBC. A group of Sudanese medics has called the attack a war crime.

Pictures showed shattered windows, cracks from shrapnel, a gaping hole in the mud-brick wall and twisted metal from hospital beds covering the floor.

The RSF has been besieging el-Fasher for more than 17 months, leaving hundreds of thousands of people stuck in the city, facing starvation.

The paramilitary group is fighting the army for full control of el-Fasher, the last military stronghold in the vast Darfur region.

This is the second strike on the Saudi hospital this year - the first in January killed three children and injured three others. The latest shelling ripped through part of the hospital, destroying wards.

In recent weeks, the RSF has intensified its assault on el-Fasher, leading experts to believe the city could soon fall unless the army receives immediate reinforcements.

The two sides have been engaged in a ferocious civil war for more than two years, causing the world's worst humanitarian crisis and tens of thousands of deaths.

The incessant fighting in el-Fasher has forced most health facilities to shut. Aid convoys carrying food and healthcare have been blocked from reaching civilians. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, warned that urgent measures are necessary to protect civilians and loosen the siege that has held the city firmly in its grips.

Topics

More on this story