The city of el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, has been thrust into the global spotlight after a devastating drone strike on Friday, September 19, 2025, claimed the lives of at least 70 people, including 11 children between the ages of 6 and 15. The attack, which struck a mosque during early morning prayers, left many others trapped beneath rubble and sent shockwaves through a community already battered by more than a year of relentless civil war.
According to UNICEF’s Executive Director Catherine Russell, initial reports confirmed the deaths of at least 11 children and many more wounded, with the strike also damaging nearby homes. In a statement released Monday, Russell described the attack as "shocking," underscoring the vulnerability of children in a conflict that has spared no one. "The latest attack has torn apart families and shattered any sense of safety for children who have already suffered so much," she said, emphasizing that the siege of el-Fasher by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has left children exposed to violence, deprivation, and trauma.
The situation on the ground, as reported by the Associated Press, is dire. Local aid groups, activists, and the Sudanese army have all pointed the finger at the RSF, a powerful paramilitary group, accusing them of launching the deadly drone strike. The attack targeted worshippers gathered in prayer, many of whom were seeking shelter from the ongoing violence. "The people who were killed were absolutely innocent. They were people seeking shelter, people praying in a mosque. It’s an atrocious, unconscionable act," said Sheldon Yett, UNICEF’s Representative to Sudan, in an interview with the Associated Press.
This latest incident is a grim chapter in Sudan’s ongoing civil war, which has claimed at least 40,000 lives and displaced as many as 12 million people, according to the World Health Organization. The conflict has pushed vast swathes of the population to the brink of famine, with humanitarian agencies warning of a looming catastrophe if fighting does not abate. The RSF’s siege of el-Fasher has exacerbated the crisis, trapping civilians—especially children—inside the city with little access to food, clean water, or healthcare.
Among the victims of Friday’s attack were three doctors, as confirmed by the Preliminary Committee of Sudan’s Doctors Trade Union and the Sudan Doctors Network. These medical professionals were among the 231 healthcare workers killed since the outbreak of war, a staggering toll that has crippled the region’s already fragile healthcare system. The loss of medical personnel is particularly devastating in a context where disease rates are soaring and access to basic sanitation and medical care is increasingly scarce.
Antoine Gerard, Sudan’s Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator with the United Nations, painted a bleak picture of the current situation in el-Fasher. He told the Associated Press on Monday that attacks on civilians have intensified, making it nearly impossible for residents to find safety either inside or outside the besieged city. "We are quite concerned about targeting civilians, targeting the population and particularly hospital(s), mosque(s) and schools and any other civilian premises," Gerard said, highlighting the growing disregard for international humanitarian norms in the conflict.
The international response to the attack was swift. Egypt, which shares a border with Sudan, condemned the drone strike in a statement issued Sunday, September 21, 2025. The Egyptian government called the attack "a blatant violation of international humanitarian law," and denounced the targeting of places of worship and innocent civilians. The condemnation from Egypt adds to mounting calls from the international community for all parties to respect the laws of war and protect non-combatants.
The broader context of the violence in el-Fasher is one of escalating conflict over control of the city and its surrounding areas. According to a report from the United Nations’ human rights office, fighting intensified by early April 2025, with more than 400 civilians killed in RSF attacks in the area since April 10. Much of the bloodshed followed a major offensive in which the RSF seized the Zamzam displacement camp and turned it into a military base to launch further assaults on el-Fasher. The transformation of the camp—a place meant to shelter the vulnerable—into a launching pad for violence has drawn particular outrage from humanitarian organizations.
The human toll of the conflict extends far beyond the immediate casualties of drone strikes and ground assaults. Thousands of children in Darfur are now at risk of malnutrition, with many already acutely malnourished. Access to food is severely limited, and disease rates are climbing as water and sanitation infrastructure breaks down under the strain of war. "We know that all of North Darfur is severely affected. We know the disease rates are skyrocketing. We know water and sanitation (are) hard to come by," Yett told the Associated Press. He warned that these combined hardships "mean the death of many children who shouldn’t have to die."
For the families living through this nightmare, the trauma is both immediate and long-lasting. Children, in particular, are being forced to witness horrors that no child should ever see. As Russell of UNICEF put it, the relentless violence has "shattered any sense of safety for children who have already suffered so much." The siege conditions mean that even basic humanitarian aid cannot reach those most in need, compounding the suffering and leaving many to fend for themselves in a city under constant threat.
The RSF, for its part, has been accused by multiple sources—including local aid groups, activists, and the Sudanese army—of perpetrating repeated attacks on civilian targets in North Darfur. Since April, more than 400 civilians have been killed in RSF-led assaults, with the group’s military strategy increasingly relying on the use of seized displacement camps as operational bases. The transformation of Zamzam camp into an RSF military outpost has allowed the group to intensify its campaign against el-Fasher, further endangering the civilian population.
As the conflict drags on, the prospects for peace and stability in North Darfur appear increasingly remote. The international community continues to call for a cessation of hostilities and for all parties to respect the rights of civilians. However, with the RSF maintaining its siege and the Sudanese army struggling to regain control, the people of el-Fasher remain trapped in a deadly stalemate.
For now, the city mourns its dead and braces for what may come next, as aid groups and international agencies plead for access and protection for those caught in the crossfire. The tragedy at the mosque on September 19 serves as a stark reminder of the human cost of war—a cost borne most heavily by the innocent, and especially by the children of Sudan.