FRI 19 SEPT -- Dozens of civilians are reported to have been killed in a strike on a mosque in El Fasher as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) launches a “large-scale” attack to try to take the city.
The strike hit a mosque in the Darja Awlaa neighbourhood in the west of the city, near the University of El Fasher, during dawn prayers on Friday.
Footage circulating on social media showed rows of body bags lined up on the ground as well as numerous bodies amidst the rubble of a collapsed building.
The total death toll remains unclear, but reports suggested at least 70 people had been killed.
It comes amid a push by the RSF to take El Fasher following a siege that has lasted more than 17 months.
Satellite imagery collected on Thursday by the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL) identified at least 82 vehicles, including one armoured vehicle, entering the Abu Shouk displacement camp directly north of an area “saturated with over 250 munition impacts”.
Thermal scarring and damaged or razed structures could also be seen in the camp.
Abu Shouk is the largest displacement camp in El Fasher and one of the population centres for the roughly 260,000 civilians trapped inside the city.
Many of the munition impacts were clustered around the nearby headquarters of the Joint Forces, the main ally of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), in the former compound of the United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID).
Yale HRL said it had concluded that the RSF likely holds the Joint Forces base and is able to “move without resistance through Abu Shouk”.
Citing local sources, the Sudan Tribune reports that the remaining SAF and Joint Forces in the area were forced to retreat toward the University of El Fasher.
Yale HRL said it believed El Fasher was in the process of “falling” to the RSF, though stressed that that process “does not have a specific end date”.
It added that it was highly unlikely SAF would be able to hold the city without immediate reinforcements, noting that the RSF “maintains continued supply and logistics superiority and continues to successfully deny supply lines to SAF”.
Previous satellite images showed that, since May, the RSF has built more than 38km of berms around El Fasher, helping it tighten its siege on the city and prevent civilians inside from fleeing.
Widespread fears have been raised that, should it take the city, the RSF would carry out mass atrocities targeting the civilians inside, as it did in April at the Zamzam displacement camp, which sat around 15km to the south of El Fasher.
An atrocity alert issued by the Preventing and Ending Mass Atrocities (PAEMA) NGO on Friday said there was a “significant risk of ongoing atrocities in El Fasher including the perpetration of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes”.
The group noted that it had been a year since UNSC resolution 2736 called for all parties to the conflict to ensure civilians be protected, adding that “safe and voluntary evacuation routes must be secured for civilians to leave El Fasher”.
“Decisive action by the international community can still prevent further atrocities,” PAEMA said.
“Diplomatic engagement is needed to pressure backers such as the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Turkey, Russia, and Iran to cease their material support to the RSF and SAF.
“All concerned states must diplomatically engage President Mohamed bin Zayed of the UAE to end Emirati support for the RSF and get the RSF to cease all atrocities against civilians in Sudan.”
The weekly dispatch features the latest developments, first-hand testimony, footage, photos, stats and analysis on Sudan. We can connect you with voices from the ground, experts and survivors of the war. I am available at +44 7514 796 678 / sudan@avaaz.org
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The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) is building an earthen wall around El Fasher to create a “kill box” and prevent civilians fleeing the besieged city, satellite imagery suggests.
People caught trying to smuggle food into the besieged city of El Fasher are being “executed on sight” by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), according to one civilian.
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