El Fasher, August 1(Darfur24)Hundreds of residents have fled El Fasher city this week due to the intense artillery shelling exchanged between the Sudanese army and the armed movements allied with it on one hand, and the Rapid Support Forces( RSF) on the other hand.
Abul Qasim Hamid Adam, a volunteer at the displacement centers in the Shaqra area, 15 km west of El Fasher, the provincial capital of North Darfur, revealed the arrival of approximately 200 families in just three days in extremely complex humanitarian conditions.
This week, El Fasher city witnessed the killing of 60 people and the wounding of 100 others as a result of artillery shelling between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces targeting the livestock market, the Awlad Al-Reef neighborhoods, the Aldaraja neighborhood, the grand market in the center of the city, and the Saudi Specialized Hospital, which was shelled with 15 projectles , according to Dr. Ibrahim Abdullah Khater, Director General of the Ministry of Health in the state.
Abu Al-Qasim pointed out that most families need shelter, urgent food intervention and transportation to safe areas in Tawila and Jebel Marra for those who wish to travel, expressing his hope that national and international organizations would intervene to provide aid and evacuate some to ease overcrowding in the centers that house the residents of rural El Fasher.
He stated that some families were on the lists of displaced people in the Shaqra area after the battles of May 10 and returned to El Fasher in the past weeks after it witnessed relative stability.
He expected all citizens in El Fasher to flee to safe places in light of the intense artillery shelling directed at hospitals and homes in order to displace citizens, according to him.
Mahjoub Mohamed Al-Mustafa, one of the citizens who fled from El Fasher to the Shaqra area, said that he was forced to flee and return to the city three times due to the battles.
He added, “I fled with my family after the battles of May 10 to the Shaqra area in the displaced people’s shelter center and we returned again on Eid Al-Adha due to the difficulty of obtaining water, food and environmental sanitation, but the battles on the fifth day of Eid forced us to return to the area again.”
Mahjoub told Darfur24 that last Saturday was the saddest day after the city witnessed the killing and wounding of dozens, including his cousin. He added: “On the way to Shagra, I saw hundreds of women, children and elderly people fleeing in a deplorable state on foot, leaving everything behind.” The International Organization for Migration’s Displacement Tracking Matrix announced last July that about 328,000 people had fled from El Fasher to the areas of Tawila, Jebel Marra, Mellit, Dar es Salaam, Nyala in South Darfur and Ed Daein in South Darfur.