In the early hours of September 19, 2025, a drone strike shattered the morning calm in El Fasher, the capital of Sudan’s North Darfur region. The attack, which targeted the Al Jamia mosque during prayers, left at least 70 worshippers dead—some reports put the toll as high as 84—and dozens more injured, according to local medics, aid workers, and Sudan’s army. The mosque was reduced to rubble, with bodies still buried under the debris as rescue efforts continued throughout the day.
The strike, blamed on Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), marks one of the deadliest incidents in a brutal siege that has gripped El Fasher for nearly 18 months. As reported by The New York Times, the attack occurred at around 5 a.m. local time, when the mosque was packed with worshippers, including women and children. Suleman, a senior doctor at the nearby Al Saudi hospital, described the aftermath as “harrowing beyond description,” confirming that at least 84 bodies had been pulled from the wreckage. Among the dead was Dr. Omar Selik, a local physician who had recently spoken about the dire conditions facing El Fasher’s besieged population.
Responsibility for the attack remains a point of contention. The RSF, which has been storming El Fasher for over a year, is widely blamed by the Sudanese army, local activists, and international observers. However, the paramilitary group denies any involvement. The Sudanese army, in a statement mourning the victims, condemned the RSF, declaring, “Targeting civilians unjustly is the motto of this rebel militia, and it continues to do so in full view of the entire world.”
Further details of the attack have been difficult to verify independently due to the ongoing violence and the withdrawal of many international organizations from the area. Yet, video footage posted by the Resistance Committees in El Fasher reportedly showed the mosque’s remains and several bodies, evidence corroborated by local medical professionals and aid workers.
The drone strike is the latest episode in a civil war that erupted in April 2023 between Sudan’s military and the RSF. According to the World Health Organization, the conflict has already claimed at least 40,000 lives, displaced about 12 million people, and pushed countless others to the brink of famine. The fighting has been especially fierce in and around El Fasher, which has become a last stronghold for the Sudanese military in Darfur as RSF forces tighten their grip on the region.
Satellite imagery released by the Humanitarian Research Lab at Yale University and cited by AP and BBC shows clear evidence of drone activity and explosion damage in El Fasher and the nearby Abu Shouk refugee camp. The camp, which houses 450,000 displaced people, has been repeatedly attacked and is now largely under RSF control. The Yale-based group warned, “El Fasher is falling to RSF forces,” and noted that the paramilitary now controls the local army’s operational headquarters.
The humanitarian situation in El Fasher has deteriorated rapidly under the RSF’s siege. According to Dr. Ezzeldin Asow of El Fasher South Hospital, the only surgical facility still functioning in the city, patients are brought in on foot or by donkey carts, as ambulances are unable to operate safely. “The reality on the ground in El Fasher is horrific,” said Li Fung, the U.N. Human Rights Office’s representative for Sudan, during a briefing in Geneva. “We continue to receive reports of civilians being killed, abducted or subjected to sexual violence while attempting to leave El Fasher.”
There are no safe exit routes from the city. Civilians face an impossible choice: remain in El Fasher and risk bombardment, starvation, and atrocities if the RSF overrun the city, or attempt to flee and face the threat of summary execution, abduction, or sexual violence. As Doctors Without Borders reported in July, mass ethnically motivated violence—including killings, sexual violence, and abductions—has plagued the region, forcing thousands to flee and leaving many more trapped in desperate conditions.
The United Nations has called the mosque attack a potential war crime, and earlier this month, U.N. human rights investigators stated that RSF atrocities in El Fasher amounted to crimes against humanity. Denise Brown, the top U.N. official in Sudan, demanded that those responsible be brought to account. The U.N. Human Rights Office recorded at least 3,384 civilian deaths in Sudan, mostly in Darfur, between January and June of this year, but officials warn the real toll is likely much higher.
The RSF’s military campaign has been bolstered by advanced Chinese-made armed drones, supplied by the United Arab Emirates, according to satellite photos and reports from the Yale School of Public Health. Colombian mercenaries, allegedly hired by the UAE, have also been spotted fighting alongside RSF forces in El Fasher. The United Arab Emirates, for its part, has denied backing either side in the conflict, insisting it supports international peace efforts and accountability for violations by all parties. Nevertheless, the presence of foreign fighters and advanced weaponry has escalated the violence, making the situation on the ground even more volatile.
As the RSF consolidates its grip on Darfur, it has established its own government in Nyala, 110 miles south of El Fasher, under the leadership of Lt. Gen. Mohamed Hamdan. The group’s control over critical infrastructure—such as the Abu Shouk camp and the city’s operational headquarters—has further isolated El Fasher’s residents, who now face severe shortages of food, water, and medicine. International diplomacy, including a recent joint truce statement by the UAE, United States, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, has so far failed to bring meaningful relief to the city’s besieged population.
For many in El Fasher, hope is in short supply. “Those thugs have declared repeatedly that they intend to wipe us out,” said Taha Khater, an aid worker, in a text message to The New York Times. “Please, we are dying before the eyes of the whole world and no one is speaking up.”
As the world watches, the tragedy unfolding in El Fasher serves as a stark reminder of the devastating human cost of Sudan’s civil war—and the urgent need for concerted international action to protect civilians and end the violence.