At least 70 people have been killed after a paramilitary drone attack on a mosque in Sudan.
The Sudanese army and aid workers said the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF) carried out the attack during Friday prayers in the North Darfur region.
The attack took place in the besieged city of Al Fasher and was said to have completely destroyed the mosque.
With bodies still buried under the rubble, the number of deaths is likely to rise, a worker with the local aid group Emergency Response Rooms said.
The worker spoke anonymously, fearing retaliation from the RSF.
Further details of the attack were difficult to ascertain because it took place in an area where many international and charitable organisations have already pulled out because of the violence.
In a statement, Sudan’s army said it was mourning the victims of the attack.
It said: “Targeting civilians unjustly is the motto of this rebel militia, and it continues to do so in full view of the entire world.”
Sky News Africa correspondent Yousra Elbagir reported earlier this month on the situation in North Darfur, where people are facing torture, rape and forced starvation.
The Sudan war started in April 2023, when long-simmering tensions between the Sudanese army and the RSF broke out in Khartoum.
The US special envoy to Sudan estimates that 150,000 people have been killed, but the exact figure is unknown. Close to 12 million people have been displaced.
Several mediation attempts have failed to secure a humanitarian access mechanism or any lulls in fighting.
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The Resistance Committees in El Fasher, a group of local activists who track abuses, posted a video on Friday claiming to show parts of the mosque reduced to rubble with several scattered bodies.
The Darfur Victims Support Organisation, which monitors abuses against civilians, said the attack happened at a mosque on the Daraga al Oula street at around 5am local time, citing witnesses.
The attack is the latest in a series of heavy clashes in the past week of between the two sides in Al Fasher.
