RSF drone strike in Sudan kills 21 civilians, injures 17 in El Fasher

At least 21 civilians were killed and 17 others injured in a drone strike by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan on a shelter for displaced people in El Fasher, North Darfur, activists reported Saturday.

“An RSF drone attacked the Qouz Beina school, which houses a large number of displaced people, leading to 21 deaths and 17 injuries,” stated the El Fasher Coordination of Resistance Committees, a group involved in war victim relief efforts.

In another development, the General Coordination of Darfur Displaced People and Refugees reported that the RSF bombarded the Abu Shouk displacement camp in El Fasher with heavy artillery, causing additional casualties.

El Fasher has been the site of fierce clashes between the Sudanese army and the RSF since May 10. The city serves as a humanitarian operation center for the Darfur region, utilized by the U.N. and international aid agencies.

Meanwhile, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) announced that recent shelling in Kabkabiya in North Darfur had uprooted 650 families, who have sought refuge in the town and other parts of the state.

Sudan has been devastated by fighting between the army and the RSF since April 2023.

The ongoing conflict has caused more than 20,000 deaths and displaced over 14 million people, according to estimates from the U.N. and local authorities.