A drone strike by the Sudanese army has killed at least 12 people after hitting a clinic in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur, according to reports from human rights monitors.
The Yashfeen Clinic was struck around midday on Saturday, in a city currently under the control of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The RSF and the army have been locked in a brutal civil conflict since April 2023.
The Emergency Lawyers group confirmed the attack, with one source warning that the death toll could rise, as many civilians and medical staff were likely inside the building at the time.
On the same day, the RSF shelled the city of El-Fasher, the last major army stronghold in the Darfur region, killing at least 7 and injuring 71 others, including 22 in critical condition, according to local medical sources.
El-Fasher has become the deadliest frontline in Sudan’s war. The RSF has increased its siege, bombarding neighborhoods, the local airport, and even a camp for displaced people called Abu Shouk—where many are already facing famine.
The situation is so severe that hospitals are frequently targeted and local police headquarters have been taken over by the RSF.
Experts warn that El-Fasher is turning into a “kill box.” According to Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab, the RSF has built over 31 kilometers of earthen barriers around the city, confining army troops to a shrinking area of just 13 square kilometers.
The UN estimates 300,000 civilians are trapped inside the city without enough food or water. Famine has already been declared in nearby camps, and 40% of children under five in the region are now acutely malnourished.
“People are dying of hunger, bombings, and even while trying to escape into the desert,” said one humanitarian worker.
The RSF has a dark past—it evolved from the Janjaweed militia, which was responsible for genocidal attacks in Darfur in the early 2000s, where over 300,000 people were killed. Now, with the RSF gaining ground again, experts fear history may repeat itself.
If El-Fasher falls, the RSF will control all five state capitals in Darfur.
The Zaghawa tribe, the main non-Arab group in El-Fasher, could face the same tragic fate as the Massalit tribe, thousands of whom were massacred in 2023 in El-Geneina by RSF fighters.
While both the Sudanese army and RSF have been accused of war crimes, the RSF stands accused of genocide, sexual violence, and looting.
Nathaniel Raymond of Yale’s research lab warned:
“The Janjaweed are about to win the genocide they started over 20 years ago… and the world isn’t doing anything to stop it.”
With Sudan’s war showing no signs of ending, and both sides committing serious abuses, the international community faces urgent pressure to intervene, protect civilians, and support humanitarian access to besieged regions.
