A recent Friday morning turned into a nightmare in El Fasher, Sudan, when paramilitary forces launched a missile strike on a mosque during dawn prayers, killing dozens of worshippers. Local medical staff and aid organizations described the scene as utterly horrific, with estimates of the dead ranging from 75 to 84 individuals, including women and children.
This attack marks one of the deadliest incidents in months for El Fasher, a city in the Darfur region that has endured a brutal, nearly 18-month siege. Paramilitary groups have relentlessly bombed residential areas, trapping tens of thousands of civilians who are already facing severe food shortages.
Among those confirmed dead was Dr. Omar Selik, a dedicated physician who had recently shared heartbreaking accounts with The New York Times about the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in El Fasher. His death was verified by a relative and another senior doctor, Suleman, from the Al Saudi hospital.
Dr. Selik had previously described the desperate situation where starving children were forced to eat animal fodder. During a video call, he even showed his own meager meal – a plate of the same sludgy paste – lamenting, “There’s nothing else.” His final text messages indicated the escalating violence: “Now we are under attack again. Too much killing of people.”
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SAUDI
ARABIA
200 MILES
EGYPT
Nile
Port Sudan
Red
Sea
SUDAN
CHAD
DARFUR
Region
ERITREA
Khartoum
El Fasher
Tawila
ETHIOPIA
CENTRAL
AFRICAN
REP.
SOUTH SUDAN
DEM. REP. OF CONGO
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The siege of El Fasher is being spearheaded by the Rapid Support Forces (R.S.F.), a paramilitary organization locked in a civil war with Sudan’s military since April 2023. After being forced out of the capital, Khartoum, the R.S.F. has retreated to its traditional stronghold of Darfur, where many of its combatants originate. El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, represents the R.S.F.’s final objective for full regional control.
Credit…Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
The R.S.F. has employed brutal tactics, including constructing a 20-mile earthen wall around El Fasher to prevent essential supplies like food and medicine from entering. Civilians attempting to escape the city have reportedly been beaten or killed.
Reports, including videos on social media and statements from Colombian President Gustavo Petro, confirm that Colombian mercenaries are fighting alongside the R.S.F. in El Fasher, with Petro calling them “specters of death.”
Earlier this month, U.N. human rights investigators declared that the R.S.F.’s actions in El Fasher constitute crimes against humanity. Recent satellite imagery and reports from the Yale School of Public Health suggest the R.S.F. has seized control of most of El Fasher, with heavy fighting reported around a former U.N. peacekeeping base.
The R.S.F.’s advance is bolstered by advanced, Chinese-made armed drones, visible in recent satellite images over El Fasher. Witnesses, including Dr. Suleman, claimed an R.S.F. drone fired on the mosque, noting, “Right now, the drone is still moving in the sky. I can see it.”
The United Arab Emirates, accused by Sudan’s government of funding and supplying the R.S.F. with artillery, medical aid, and Chinese-made drones (some used in the El Fasher siege), denies any involvement in the conflict. Taha Khater, an aid worker in El Fasher, expressed the profound despair among residents: “Those thugs have declared repeatedly that they intend to wipe us out. Please, we are dying before the eyes of the whole world and no one is speaking up.”