Vendors sell Ethiopian products in the town of Gallabat, on Sudan's border with Ethiopia. AFP
"The death toll from the Awlad Al-Reef neighborhood massacre... has risen to 38 martyrs," the local resistance committee, one of hundreds of volunteer groups coordinating aid across Sudan, said of the attack late Saturday.
It said the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which have been battling the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) since mid-April 2023, targeted "Awlad al-Reef neighbourhood in the centre of the city with four high-explosive missiles, 38 civilians and injuring more than 20 others with serious wounds".
El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, has been under paramilitary siege since May.
The city has seen fierce clashes as both sides fight to secure a last foothold in the Darfur region.
Nearly all of Darfur is now controlled by the RSF, which has also taken over swathes of the southern Kordofan region and central Sudan, while the army holds the north and east.
Both are battling for full control of the war-torn capital Khartoum, 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) east of El-Fasher.
The Sudanese health ministry said another drone attack on Friday killed nine people and wounded 20 at the main hospital in El-Fasher, forcing it to halt operations.
The RSF targeted the facility known as the Saudi Hospital with "four drone-guided missiles", the ministry statement said.
It said the attack "struck areas where patients' companions were gathered as well as key locations of the hospital".
In a post on X Saturday, World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described continued attacks on healthcare facilities across Sudan as "deplorable".
"We urge for the protection of all patients and health professionals, and for all attacks on and around health facilities to stop," he added.
The war in Sudan has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than 11 million, creating what the United Nations calls one of the worst humanitarian disasters in recent memory.
* This story was edited by Ahram Online.
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