Darfur Health Minister: Thousands of civilians have fallen in the city of El Fasher

SadaNews - Health Minister of the Darfur region, Babakir Hamdin, stated that thousands of civilians have fallen in the city of El Fasher over the past two days, while the African Union condemned the "atrocities" and "alleged war crimes" in El Fasher, western Sudan.

The minister indicated that it is impossible to determine the number of victims due to communication cuts, and those who have exited confirmed the deaths of thousands in El Fasher.

According to Hamdin, hospitals in El Fasher are out of service due to targeted attacks on medical staff and communication breakdowns, and he noted that families remaining in El Fasher have been subjected to looting with a lack of food and medicine.

For its part, medical sources confirmed the arrival of more than 100 displaced families from El Fasher to the town of Tawilah, west of the city, while Médecins Sans Frontières called for efforts to save the lives of civilians in El Fasher and allow them to move to safer areas.

A Difficult Moment

This comes as Malik Agar, Deputy Chairman of the Sudanese Sovereignty Council, stated that what our country is going through today is a difficult moment, but it is not the end of the road, considering that the army's retreat in the fighting in "El Fasher calls us all for cohesion".

On Tuesday, data and field reports indicated that Rapid Support Forces executed widespread killing of civilians in El Fasher and kidnapped several doctors, following their control over the city which they had besieged for months.

The joint committee of movements fighting alongside the Sudanese army stated in a statement that the Rapid Support Forces committed heinous crimes against innocent civilians in the city of El Fasher, having executed and killed more than two thousand unarmed citizens on October 26 and 27, most of them women, children, and the elderly.

Siege and Condemnation

Commenting on these developments, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Mahmoud Ali Youssef, condemned the "atrocities" and "war crimes" reported from the Sudanese city of El Fasher.

After an 18-month siege, the Rapid Support Forces declared their control over El Fasher last Sunday. Youssef expressed "grave concern regarding the escalating violence and atrocities mentioned in reports" from the city, condemning "the alleged war crimes and killings of civilians targeting ethnic groups".

For its part, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) expressed concern over the deteriorating situation in El Fasher following the control of the Rapid Support Forces, condemning acts of violence against civilians in El Fasher, and calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities.

Crimes and Condemnation

Hours earlier, the Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the Sudanese government condemns in the strongest terms what it described as the "horrific terrorist crimes committed by the Rapid Support militia in the city of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state".

It affirmed, in a statement issued early Tuesday morning, that the Rapid Support Forces "have committed and continue to commit racially motivated killings and systematic terror against unarmed civilians, including women, children, and the elderly, in shocking scenes that their perpetrators document with pride and audacity, revealing their criminal nature that profanes blood and terrorism".

El Fasher was the last major administrative center in the Sudanese Darfur region still under the control of the Sudanese armed forces, having been under intense siege from the Rapid Support Forces for several months, leading to many casualties and exacerbating the humanitarian crisis.

Source: Al Jazeera