(MENAFN) A deadly drone attack carried out by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) killed 57 civilians at a temporary shelter in El Fasher, western Sudan, according to the Sudanese government on Saturday.

In a statement, Sudan’s foreign ministry accused the RSF of orchestrating a targeted assault on displaced civilians: "As part of its ongoing plan aimed at the mass extermination of displaced persons and civilians in El Fasher, the terrorist militia committed another massacre today, at the Dar Al-Arqam shelter in El Fasher."

Among the dead were 17 children, 22 women, and 18 elderly individuals, the ministry said.

The government urged the United Nations Security Council to take immediate action, demanding enforcement of its resolution that calls on the RSF to end the siege of El Fasher and cease all hostilities in the area.

The ministry also called on international and regional actors to step in decisively — urging them to halt arms shipments and mercenary flows to the RSF, pursue legal accountability for its leaders, and back Sudanese government efforts to alleviate civilian suffering in El Fasher and other areas under RSF control.

Earlier in the day, the Coordination of Resistance Committees in El Fasher released its own statement, raising the reported death toll from the drone strike to over 60 unarmed civilians.

An eyewitness speaking to media described the aftermath at the Dar Al-Arqam Shelter: "burned to death inside the shelter."

The RSF has not yet issued a response regarding the allegations.

El Fasher has been gripped by intense fighting since May 2024, part of the broader war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the RSF, which erupted in April 2023. The ongoing conflict has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced millions, pushing Sudan deeper into one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

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