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Tragedy in El-Fasher: Thirteen Lives Lost Due to Hospital Shelling

An alarming attack on a hospital in El-Fasher, Sudan, has resulted in the deaths of at least 13 individuals, exacerbating the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the besieged city.

Source: bbc.co.uk1 min read
Tragedy in El-Fasher: Thirteen Lives Lost Due to Hospital Shelling
Image via bbc.co.uk

In brief

In a horrific incident in El-Fasher, the last operational hospital was shelled by the Rapid Support Forces, claiming at least 13 lives and injuring 16 others. The city has been under siege for over 17 months, facing critical shortages of food and medical assistance. This attack is part of escalating violence amid a fierce civil war in Sudan, which has seen tens of thousands killed and millions displaced.

At least 13 people have been killed after an attack on one of the last remaining hospitals in el-Fasher, a Sudanese city trapped under siege.

Sixteen others, including a doctor and nurse, were injured after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) shelled the Saudi hospital several times on Tuesday night, a source there told the BBC. A group of Sudanese medics has called the attack a war crime.

Pictures showed shattered windows, cracks from shrapnel, a gaping hole in the mud-brick wall, and twisted metal from hospital beds covering the floor.

The RSF has been besieging el-Fasher for more than 17 months, leaving hundreds of thousands of people stuck in the city, facing starvation.

The paramilitary group is fighting the army for full control of el-Fasher, the last military stronghold in the vast Darfur region.

This is the second strike on the Saudi hospital this year - the first in January killed three children and injured three others.

In recent weeks, the RSF has intensified its assault on el-Fasher, leading experts to believe the city could soon fall unless the army receives immediate reinforcements.

The two sides have been engaged in a ferocious civil war for more than two years, causing the world's worst humanitarian crisis and tens of thousands of deaths.

The incessant fighting in el-Fasher has forced most health facilities to shut. Aid convoys carrying food and healthcare have been blocked from reaching civilians.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk expressed grave concerns over the deteriorating conditions, warning that urgent measures are necessary to alleviate the humanitarian disaster.

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