Seven civilians were killed and 71 others injured in artillery shelling by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur State in western Sudan, local doctors said on Sunday.

In a statement, the Sudanese Doctors Network denounced the civilian killings as a “massacre,” warning that the situation in the city amounts to “an integrated genocide, involving bombardment, siege, and systematic starvation of residents.”

It held the RSF responsible for the attack and called on the international community and local authorities to take “urgent and immediate action to halt the shelling and open safe humanitarian corridors.”

There was no immediate comment from the RSF.

Preceding attacks

On Thursday, the medical group said that 24 people were killed and 55 others injured in RSF artillery shelling targeting a marketplace and the Awlad al-Rif neighbourhood in El-Fasher.

Local committees and authorities in El-Fasher have repeatedly accused the RSF of responsibility for artillery attacks and repeated assaults on the city, which has been under siege since May 10, 2024, despite international warnings over the risks of fighting in the city that serves as the hub for humanitarian operations across Darfur’s five states.

The army and RSF have been fighting a war since April 2023 that has killed more than 20,000 victims and displaced 14 million others, according to the UN and local authorities.

Research from US universities, however, estimates the death toll at around 130,000.