{"id":20120429,"date":"2025-09-01T20:12:04","date_gmt":"2025-09-01T18:12:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dabangasudan.org\/?p=20120429"},"modified":"2025-09-04T17:47:38","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T15:47:38","slug":"north-darfur-rsf-siege-deepens-hospital-strike-kills-dozens-in-south-darfur","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dabangasudan.org\/en\/all-news\/article\/north-darfur-rsf-siege-deepens-hospital-strike-kills-dozens-in-south-darfur","title":{"rendered":"North Darfur RSF siege deepens, hospital strike kills dozens in South Darfur"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are enforcing a siege on North Darfur\u2019s capital on El Fasher that is causing mass starvation, according to a new update from Project Zamzam. In Nyala, South Darfur, a hospital strike killed dozens during the swearing-in of RSF leader <\/strong>Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo \u2018Hemedti\u2019 as head of the Sudan\u2019s RSF-aligned parallel government.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Project Zamzam update describes\u00a0El Fasher<\/a>\u00a0and the adjacent Abu Shouk displacement camp as being strangled by the RSF, who are\u00a0denying humanitarian access<\/a>\u00a0and targeting civilians, particularly the non-Arab Zaghawa population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gaffar Mohammud Saeneen and\u00a0Eric Reeves<\/a>, co-chairs of the project, said civilians are dying at an alarming rate. Saeneen, who speaks daily with residents, reported: \u201cTwo hundred to three hundred people are starving to death every day.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said this equates to a crude mortality rate of 10 deaths per 10,000 people per day, five times above the famine threshold set by\u00a0the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification<\/a>\u00a0(IPC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UN declared famine in Zamzam camp and El Fasher in August 2024 based on M\u00e9decins Sans Fronti\u00e8res (MSF) surveys, which then found a CMR of 2.5. The Project Zamzam update stresses that El Fasher is now facing starvation at four times that level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those attempting to flee are being murdered, raped, or taken into captivity, while those who remain face certain starvation, according to the update. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It adds that the RSF\u2019s ability to sustain the siege depends heavily on military and financial support from the\u00a0United Arab Emirates<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aid pushed to Chad border<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the RSF\u2019s April assault on Zamzam camp, which killed thousands, Team Zamzam relocated to Tin\u00e9 on the Chad\u2013Darfur border. From there, the group has continued its humanitarian work in exile, providing food kitchens, shelter materials, and trauma counselling\u00a0for survivors of sexual violence<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As many as 250,000 displaced people have reached the area, where Team Zamzam and a consortium of Darfuri humanitarian actors are working on both sides of the wadi that divides Tin\u00e9 Chad and Tina Darfur. Plans are underway to establish camps on the Darfur side once the seasonal floods recede.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite this local effort, the update notes that UN and international NGO responses remain \u201cwoefully inadequate\u201d, hampered by funding cuts, insecurity, and restricted access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nyala hospital strike<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nyala witnessed renewed attacks on Saturday when a hospital was struck during\u00a0Hemedti\u2019s swearing-in as President of the\u00a0Sudan Founding Alliance (Tasees)<\/a>\u00a0government. Eyewitnesses said a rocket, believed to have been fired from a drone, hit the crowded Yashfin Specialised Hospital, killing at least 35 patients and companions. The death toll is expected to rise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The hospital strike in\u00a0Nyala<\/a>\u00a0coincided with the inauguration of a parallel government announced by the RSF-led Tasees, according to sources linked to the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The alliance, which includes the RSF and the SPLM-N led by Abdelaziz El Hilu, named Hemedti as president of a 15-member Presidential Council, with El Hilu as vice president and former Sovereign Council member Mohamed Hassan El Tawashi as prime inister.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eight regional governors were also appointed. Tasees described itself as a \u2018unity and peace government\u2019 operating outside the control of Port Sudan\u2019s de facto authorities, rejecting claims it threatens Sudan\u2019s territorial integrity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neither the RSF-led government in Nyala nor the SAF has claimed responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sudanese Congress Party condemned what it called the \u201csystematic killing\u201d of civilians through aerial bombardment, while the Civil Democratic Alliance (Sumoud<\/a>) described the strike as \u201ca new tragedy added to the endless book of this war\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both groups demanded accountability and urged all warring parties to stop targeting civilian sites.<\/p>\n