AFRICA/SUDAN – Indiscriminate bombing of hospitals and refugee camps in North Darfur
Tuesday, 18 June 2024
Al-Fashir (Agenzia Fides) – Patients and staff at the Southern Hospital in Al-Fashir, in the Darfur region, in north-western Sudan, were wounded and shot by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The rebels also attacked the nearby Abu Shouk camp for internally displaced people, killing several children. The indiscriminate shelling of the city’s residential areas continues, the refugee camp has been under fire for several weeks, and the number of dead and injured is increasing.
According to local sources, the wounded in the hospital include the Director himself and the head of the emergency department. Due to its logistical importance, the hospital has been the scene of repeated attacks by the warring parties. Last week there were already several attempts to evacuate patients from the Southern Hospital, as clashes broke out in the area between the RSF and the Sudanese armed forces. On Thursday, June 13, more than 30 rockets hit the capital. The El Faki Mohamed Saeed mosque, east of Igra hospital, was also badly damaged.
The town of El Fasher, home to around 1.5 million people, including around 800,000 displaced people, is the last of the five capitals in Darfur state not controlled by the RSF. Residents fear that the RSF rebels’ complete control of the town will spark a conflict between the Arab tribes that support the RSF and the Zaghawa tribe, from which most of the rebels active in North Darfur come.
Zaghawa leaders have reportedly turned to Chadian President Mahamet Deby (also a Zaghawa) and asked him to intervene to prevent a “catastrophic bloodbath” in the region.
The international community has repeatedly appealed to the warring parties to de-escalate the violence and restore free access for humanitarian aid, but so far to no avail. The fighting has led to mass displacement. An estimated 85 percent of the population left the northern districts and moved to safer areas in the south of El Fasher, or fled to Mellit, 60 km from the capital, or even to Libya. Since the end of October 2023, the security situation in El Fasher began to deteriorate rapidly, as the RSF increased pressure on the other four capitals of the State of Darfur. The RSF in the east and north-east of El Fasher began to sow chaos, until the situation exploded. (AP) (Agenzia Fides, 18/6/2024)
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Publish date : 2024-06-18 11:56:44
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