Paramilitary forces shell hospital, abduct civilians from camp in SW Sudan: volunteer groups

KHARTOUM, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) shelled a hospital in the southwestern Sudanese city of El Fasher and abducted eight civilians from a nearby displacement camp, volunteer groups said on Sunday.

The Sudan Doctors Network said in a statement that RSF artillery fire struck El Fasher's Southern Hospital on Saturday morning, wounding a medical worker and six patients, including a child and a pregnant woman.

It condemned the attack, the second on the hospital in two weeks, and accused the RSF of trying to shut down medical facilities in the city amid severe shortages of supplies and the reliance of thousands on primary healthcare.

Separately, the Abu Shouk Camp Emergency Room, another volunteer group, said RSF fighters stormed the displacement camp north of El Fasher on Saturday and took eight unarmed civilians, including six women, a 40-day-old infant and a three-year-old girl, to an unknown location. It added that more than 20 camp residents remain missing, and the number is likely higher.

The RSF has not commented on the reported incidents.

Clashes have raged in El Fasher, capital of North Darfur state, since May 10 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and allied groups on one side and the RSF on the other. The wider conflict between the SAF and RSF, which began in April 2023, has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions inside Sudan and across borders, causing what the UN calls one of the worst humanitarian crises of the century. Enditem