NORTH DARFUR – The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) launched a drone attack on a crowded marketplace in El Fasher on Wednesday, killing and injuring at least 27 civilians, according to the city’s Resistance Committees.
The strike, carried out in broad daylight, targeted a busy commercial area where civilians had gathered to trade and purchase basic goods. Witnesses reported scenes of chaos as the drone dropped an explosive device, igniting panic and leaving bodies scattered across the marketplace.
The Resistance Committees in El Fasher said the assault caused “heavy civilian losses,” emphasizing that the victims included traders, shoppers, and displaced people who had fled violence in other parts of Darfur.
Videos circulating on social media appeared to capture the moment of the attack. One widely sharped clip shows a drone releasing what seemed to be an artillery shell directly onto shops in the market, followed by smoke rising as bystanders screamed and fled. Local activists verified the footage as filmed in El Fasher on Wednesday.
This latest strike comes amid an escalating pattern of drone warfare employed by the RSF in the battle for control of North Darfur’s capital. In recent weeks, El Fasher has faced repeated airstrikes and shelling campaigns that residents and rights groups attribute to the RSF, worsening an already dire humanitarian crisis under siege conditions.
Only days earlier, a separate drone attack struck a mosque in El Fasher’s Al-Daraja neighborhood, killing dozens of worshippers, including displaced people sheltering in the area. That attack drew widespread condemnation both inside Sudan and abroad, with the United Nations describing it as an appalling act that violated international humanitarian law.
The United Nations, aid agencies, and civil society groups have consistently warned that El Fasher’s civilian population is facing catastrophic conditions. Food, medicine, and clean water remain scarce due to the city’s encirclement, while hospitals struggle to cope with the influx of wounded civilians amid shortages of staff and supplies.
El Fasher holds strategic importance as the last major city in Darfur still under Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) control. The RSF has been attempting to capture it for months, intensifying its military campaign through the use of drones, artillery, and indiscriminate bombardments. Analysts say the group views seizing El Fasher as key to consolidating its grip over Darfur and securing leverage in Sudan’s broader conflict.
Human rights monitors accuse the RSF of committing systematic abuses in the region, including extrajudicial killings, forced displacement, and looting of civilian property. The drone strikes, particularly those targeting civilian gatherings and places of worship, have raised alarm over potential war crimes.
International observers warn that the battle for El Fasher risks triggering mass atrocities on a large scale, given the city’s population of displaced people and its role as a humanitarian hub. Calls have grown for urgent international action to protect civilians and to hold perpetrators accountable for violations of international law.
AS the RSF continues its offensive, the humanitarian situation in El Fasher is rapidly deteriorating. Aid groups say immediate ceasefire guarantees are needed to allow relief supplies into the city and to evacuate the wounded. Without such measures, they caution, the death toll from drone strikes and siege conditions will continue to climb.
