Sudan Drone Strike Hits a Mosque in Darfur (Many Killed)
Kanako Mita, Noriko Watanabe, and Sawako Utsumi
Modern Tokyo Times
A military drone strike in El-Fasher, a famine-stricken city in Sudan’s Darfur region, hit a mosque during prayer time, killing over 70 people, according to reports.
Initial reports point to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) as likely being responsible for the strike. However, the RSF has not acknowledged involvement.
One can only imagine the overwhelming grief of families now in mourning—friends and loved ones gone forever after this brutal drone strike. In a matter of seconds, what began as a peaceful prayer inside a mosque turned into devastation and death. The suddenness of the violence makes the loss all the more harrowing.
Darfur has long been a site of violent conflict, with Arab Muslim militias linked to the RSF committing ethnic massacres against Black African communities in the region.
The drone strike on the mosque hit the al-Daraja neighborhood in the besieged city of El-Fasher. Despite the horrific nature of this attack—and the broader context of ethnic massacres targeting Black Africans in Darfur, as well as atrocities committed by various sides in the conflict—it has drawn little outcry in Western nations. This stands in stark contrast to the widespread protests and international attention seen in response to the war in Gaza.
Doctors Without Borders sites RSF forces of speaking “of plans to ‘clean El Fasher’ of its non-Arab…community.”
Human Rights Watch says: “Rapid Support Forces fighters and allied militias have raped scores of women and girls, including in the context of sexual slavery, in Sudan’s South Kordofan state since September 2023.”
The BBC reports, “The (RSF) paramilitaries are gaining ground as they fight to seize complete control of el-Fasher – the last army stronghold in Darfur and home to more than 300,000 civilians who have been trapped by the fighting.”
The United Nations has issued a grave warning about the “increasing ethnicisation of the conflict” in Sudan, underscoring growing fears that violence is becoming more systematically targeted along ethnic lines.
Catherine Russell (the Executive Director of UNICEF – actively involved in highlighting the crisis in Sudan) said, “Children as young as one being raped by armed men should shock anyone to their core and compel immediate action… Millions of children in Sudan are at risk of rape and other forms of sexual violence, which is being used as a tactic of war. This is an abhorrent violation of international law and could constitute a war crime. It must stop.”
The Guardian reports, “The fighting in Sudan has created what the UN has described as one of the worst humanitarian crises of the 21st century. More than 150,000 peoplehave been killed, more than 14 million have been displaced from their homes and a larger number are in need of humanitarian aid.”
Lee Jay Walker (Modern Tokyo Times analyst) says, “It is hoped that regional powers and the international community will intensify pressure on all parties involved in the Sudanese conflict. Equally important is the need to hold accountable those foreign nations fueling the war through covert support or political intrigue. Without meaningful action and consequences, the bloodshed will only continue.”
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