Dozens Killed as Sudan RSF Targets Displacement Shelter in El-Fasher, North Darfur
El-Fasher, Sudan | October 12, 2025
At least 57 civilians, including women and children, were killed after Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) launched a drone and shelling attack on a displacement shelter in El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, late Friday and into Saturday. The strike, which hit the Dar al-Arqam displacement center located on the grounds of Omdurman Islamic University, is the latest in a string of deadly assaults on civilian areas in the besieged city.
A Devastating Attack on the Displaced
According to multiple reports, the RSF used a combination of drones and incendiary shells in the overnight assault that began on October 11 and continued into October 12. The Sudan Doctors’ Network confirmed at least 53 fatalities, including 14 children and 15 women, while the El-Fasher Resistance Coordination reported the death toll could exceed 60 people.
Witnesses described harrowing scenes at the site, with bodies scattered across the compound — some burned inside the shelter. The attack also left dozens more injured, overwhelming the city’s already strained medical facilities.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, condemned the assault, warning that the RSF’s repeated targeting of civilians in El-Fasher may amount to crimes against humanity.
A City Under Siege
El-Fasher, home to an estimated 260,000 trapped civilians, has been under siege by RSF forces for more than a year. The city remains the Sudanese military’s last stronghold in the Darfur region, turning it into a focal point of intense fighting.
Humanitarian organizations have described the situation as “catastrophic.” Food, medicine, and fuel shortages are widespread, and ongoing bombardments have forced thousands to seek refuge in overcrowded shelters — many of which have now become targets themselves.
“The world cannot continue to look away,” Türk said in his statement. “The deliberate targeting of civilians and humanitarian sites must stop immediately.”
The RSF, however, denied involvement in the attack, claiming the reports were “fabricated” to discredit their forces.
Mounting Civilian Toll
The El-Fasher strike follows a previous RSF drone attack just weeks earlier that killed at least 75 people at a mosque in the same city. Analysts say these attacks highlight a pattern of escalating violence and disregard for international humanitarian law.
The Sudan conflict, which erupted in April 2023 between the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), has killed tens of thousands, displaced millions, and pushed large parts of the country to the brink of famine.
As the siege tightens and aid routes remain blocked, humanitarian groups warn that El-Fasher is at risk of becoming the next epicenter of mass civilian casualties if international intervention does not materialize soon.
