More Than 70 Killed in Drone Strike on Sudan Mosque, Witnesses Say

Debris of a mosque is seen in El Fasher on September 19, 2025, after a drone strike killed more than 70 people.

September 19, 2025 (EL FASHER) – More than 70 civilians, including community leaders, were killed when a drone strike by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) hit a mosque in the North Darfur city of El Fasher on Friday, eyewitnesses and medical responders said.

The drone’s missiles completely destroyed the mosque in the Al-Daraja Al-Ula neighbourhood as people gathered for dawn prayers, they told Sudan Tribune, adding that bodies were recovered from under the rubble.

The strike came a day after heavy clashes between the Sudanese army and its allied armed groups against the RSF in the city.

The Sudan Doctors’ Network, a pro-democracy group, said in a statement that at least 43 people were killed in what it described as a “fully-fledged war crime” and a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.

It called for urgent international action to protect civilians and open humanitarian corridors, warning that continued silence would be “indirect complicity” with the perpetrators.

The emergency room of the nearby Abu Shouk camp for displaced people said at least 20 of its residents were among the dead. The victims included the head of the camp’s native administration, Mayor Adam Abdullah Sharaf, and another community leader, King Sharif.

In recent days, the RSF had forced the entire population of Abu Shouk to flee into El Fasher after carrying out widespread violations, including killings, looting, and kidnappings, residents said. The force also destroyed the camp’s water sources and burned its main market.

A military source told Sudan Tribune that the RSF began using powerful drones capable of penetrating fortifications two weeks ago. The source said the drones had destroyed several shelters and were continuously targeting army artillery positions in an attempt to neutralize them.

The Al-Daraja Al-Ula neighbourhood, which formerly hosted international organisations, now shelters thousands of civilians who have fled the fighting in other parts of the city.