PORT SUDAN: Sudan’s army-aligned government accused paramilitaries on Wednesday of attacking civilians in mosques during their recent takeover of the western city of El-Fasher, where satellite images show evidence of “continuing mass killing,” Yale researchers say.
The capture of El-Fasher on Sunday after an 18-month siege marked by starvation and bombardment has solidified the Rapid Support Forces’ (RSF) control over Darfur, sparking fears of ethnically motivated violence reminiscent of the region’s darkest days.
El-Fasher was the last of Darfur’s five state capitals to fall to the paramilitaries, led by General Mohammad Hamdan Dagalo, who have been at war with the regular army for more than two years.
“More than 2,000 civilians were killed during the militia’s invasion of El-Fasher, targeting volunteers in mosques and the Red Crescent,” Mona Nour Al-Daem, humanitarian aid officer for the army-aligned government, said Wednesday at a press conference in Port Sudan.
She added that the Adre border pass between Sudan and Chad has been “used to introduce weapons and equipment for the militias.”
