At least 53 people, including 14 children and 15 women, lost their lives in a drone and artillery attack by Sudan's Rapid Support Forces on a displacement shelter in the besieged city of El Fasher, North Darfur.
The assault targeted the Dar al-Arqam center at Omdurman Islamic University late Friday, wounding 21 others, among them five children and seven women, according to the Sudan Doctors’ Network.
Most injuries were severe.
Local activists from the El Fasher Resistance Committee reported a higher toll of at least 60 deaths, describing the incident as a massacre.
The attack unfolded amid escalating strikes on civilian sites in the city, now deep into the third year of Sudan's civil war between the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces.
The RSF launched two drone strikes and eight artillery shells on the camp, sparking scenes of chaos as rescuers sifted through rubble for survivors.
Eyewitnesses recounted panic and devastation, with hospitals overwhelmed and medical staff treating patients on floors and in corridors.
The camp, sheltering displaced families, became a focal point of the violence, exacerbating the humanitarian plight in a city under siege for 17 months.
The Sudan Doctors’ Network confirmed 57 fatalities, including 17 children, while activists decried the deaths of children, women, and the elderly.
No immediate comment came from the RSF.
This strike follows a pattern: the United Nations documented 53 civilian deaths in El Fasher locality from October 5 to 8 alone, many women and children among them.
El Fasher stands as the last major government-held urban center in Darfur, encircled by a 57-kilometer earthen berm that curtails movement and aid delivery.
Satellite analysis by the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab reveals systematic destruction of villages and camps within a 57-kilometer radius, targeting non-Arab communities and fueling displacement.
The city's population has plummeted 62 percent from 1.11 million to 413,454, per the International Organization for Migration, leaving 260,000 trapped amid collapsed markets, food scarcity, and reliance on animal feed.
Last week, the Saudi Maternity Hospital endured three attacks, killing six, including a child.
Health facilities nationwide face routine assaults, with 70 to 80 percent in Khartoum nonfunctional.
The war, ignited in April 2023 by a rift between RSF and army leaders, has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced millions, birthing the world's largest humanitarian crisis.
UN officials, including High Commissioner Volker Türk, condemned the RSF's disregard for civilians, warning of potential war crimes.
Experts fear the city's imminent fall without reinforcements, granting the RSF full Darfur control.
International voices, from WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urging health facility protection to EU commissioner Hadja Lahbib decriing mindless attacks, underscore the urgent call for intervention.
Amid aid cuts, the crisis deepens, with residents hunkering in makeshift underground shelters against relentless bombardment.