CAIRO: Tens of thousands of people fled their homes in the Sudanese city of Al-Fashir, after an attack by Rapid Support Forces who are fighting to seize the last army stronghold in the western Darfur region, activists said on Friday.
RSF troops assaulted and looted the vast Abu Shouk camp on Wednesday, killing many and wounding at least 13, locals said, more than a year into Sudan’s conflict.
According to the Coordinating Committee for Refugees and Displaced People, which oversees camps in the region, around 60 percent of the more than 100,000 residents fled on Thursday. Locals said fighting continued in other parts of Al-Fashir on Friday.
The RSF and its allies entered four other Darfur state capitals last year and were accused of a campaign of ethnically driven killings and other abuses in the area.
The UN special adviser on the prevention of genocide this week warned of a risk of genocide.
Civilians being targeted in Al-Fashir
Alice Wairimu Nderitu told the UN Security Council on Tuesday said Civilians in Al-Fashir and other parts of Darfur were being targeted on the basis of their identity color of their skin.
About half a million more people came into Al-Fashir during the ongoing war that started between the army and the RSF in the capital Khartoum in April 2023.
According to medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) at least 85 people have died at the only functioning hospital in the south of Al-Fashir since May 10.
The total number of deaths is much larger as civilians hit by fighting in the north, east, and south of the city, MSF and residents say.
The RSF has blamed the army for using human shields as well as carrying out extensive air strikes, including destroying a power station in Al-Fashir.
