CAIRO (AP) — A paramilitary fighting against Sudan’s military shelled a famine-stricken displacement camp in the western region of Dafür Saturday, killing at least 31 people, including seven children and a pregnant woman, a medical group said, in a second attack on the camp in less than a week.
The Rapid Support Forces artillery shelling of the Abu Shouk camp outside el-Fasher, the provincial capital of North Darfur province, also wounded 13 others, the Sudan Doctors Network said in a statement.
The Resistance Committees in el-Fasher, a grassroots group tracking the war, said RSF launched an hours-long “extensive artillery shelling” on the camp early Morning. It said in a Facebook post that the attack also resulted in severe damage to private properties and the camp’s infrastructure.
The RSF didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The RSF attacked Abu Shouk last week and killed more than 40 people, as the paramilitaries have tried to seize el-Fasher, the military’s last stronghold in Darfur.
Abu-Shouk is one of two camps for displaced people outside el-Fasher. They have repeatedly been attacked by the RSF and their Janjwaeed allies, including a major offensive in April which killed hundreds of people and forced hundreds of thousands others to flee. Both camps Abu Shouk and Zamzam have been hit by famine.
Sudan’s civil war broke out in April 2023 over a power struggle between commanders of the military and the RSF. The fighting wrecked the Northeastern African country, forced about 14 million people out of their homes, and pushed some of its parts into famine.
Thousands of people were killed in the conflict and there have been atrocities, including mass killings and rape, particularly in Darfur. The International Criminal Court is investigating potential crimes and crimes against humanity in the conflict.
