At least 25 people died in North Darfur town, pro-democracy group says

Clashes between Sudan’s army and its rival paramilitary groups have killed at least 25 civilians in the North Darfur town of El Fasher, the pro-democracy Lawyers’ Council said on Tuesday.

The city and surrounding villages have been hit by “indiscriminate shelling and airstrikes” for days, according to Emergency Lawyers, which has been documenting attacks on civilians since fighting between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces began a year ago. Atrocities.

As the war enters its second year, the United Nations and the United States warn that El Fasher is the last Darfur state capital not controlled by SSF and that a breakdown of the fragile peace would be a humanitarian disaster for hundreds of thousands of people. It would be disastrous.

El Fasher is also the main humanitarian hub for the vast region of western Darfur, home to about a quarter of Sudan’s 48 million people and the site of harrowing violence during this and previous conflicts. The place where the incident occurred.

Over the past year, Darfur residents and the United Nations have reported that displacement centers have been regularly besieged and attacked by armed militants.

Darfur’s fragile health infrastructure is close to collapse.

According to the United Nations, 70% of medical facilities across the country have ceased services

“Dozens of injured have arrived at the hospital today,” a medical source at Fasher South Hospital told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals from the warring parties, who are known to target medical staff. .

Both sides have been accused of war crimes, including targeting civilians and aid workers, indiscriminate shelling of residential areas and torture.

The war has killed thousands of people since it broke out on April 15 last year, including as many as 15,000 in one town in West Darfur, according to U.N. experts. It has also forced more than 8.5 million people from their homes.

But peace talks are coming.

The United States said Saudi Arabia would host talks over the next three weeks and called on both sides to “negotiate in good faith to achieve a ceasefire.”

Discussions to be held in the Saudi Arabian port city of Jeddah were announced on Monday at a French-backed Paris international conference that raised more than 2 million euros for Sudan.