Thousands detained by paramilitary RSF in Sudan’s el-Fasher: NGO | Sudan war News

Hundreds of women and children and dozens of doctors are among those held by the rebel group in poor conditions, says Sudan Doctors Network.

Thousands of people remain detained in poor conditions by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in el-Fasher in western Sudan, according to a local NGO.

The Sudan Doctors Network said on Monday that 20 doctors, more than 1,470 civilians and 907 military personnel were being held in “crippling” conditions in various detention facilities in the city.

The paramilitary group the RSF has been accused of numerous crimes against humanity during the conflict in the West African nation which has now celebrated its third anniversary.

El-Fasher was the last stronghold of Sudan’s army in the vast western region of the RSF. Darfur.

The RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) are fighting an evil civil war since April 2023, killing hundreds of thousands and displacing millions to create the “world’s worst humanitarian crisis”, according to the United Nations.

The NGO said in a statement that the RSF is allegedly committing “serious violations” inside the detention centers in el-Fasher, “including killings during torture and interrogation, as well as ethnically motivated killings.”

The group reports that 370 women and 426 children are among those held in facilities including Shalla prison, a children’s hospital and cargo containers.

The network warned that the prisoners were “subjected to severe ill-treatment, including field executions” and were suffering from injuries caused by shelling without receiving medical care.

The detention centers have faced a cholera outbreak since early February, with poor environmental conditions, a lack of clean water and malnutrition making the spread of disease more common.

The arrest of the doctors, coupled with a “critical” shortage of medical supplies, has weakened the health sector, the NGO warned.

“The report highlights a clear link between the violence accompanying the city’s takeover and the subsequent collapse of humanitarian and health conditions,” the Sudan Doctors Network said.

There was no immediate comment from the RSF on the report.

In February, UN-backed experts said the paramilitary group had carried out “a coordinated campaign of destruction” against non-Arab communities in and around el-Fasher, the “characteristics of which indicates genocide“.

The civilian population also remains vulnerable to ongoing fighting. A Sudanese army attack on the Hamidiyah camp for displaced people near Zalingei, the capital of Central Darfur state, has killed six people and wounded dozens more, according to a report by the Sudanese legal advocacy group Emergency Lawyers on Monday.

The civil society group said shells destroyed several houses in the camp, which shelters and provides essential aid to thousands of displaced people, mostly women and children fleeing the fighting.

Sudan descended into conflict three years ago when a rivalry between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo exploded into all-out war.