PORT SUDAN: Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces shelled a hospital in North Darfur’s besieged city of El-Fasher and abducted six women and two children from a displacement camp, rescuers and a medic said Sunday.
El-Fasher, under RSF siege for over a year, is the last major city in western Darfur still held by the army and a flashpoint in the war that erupted in April 2023 between army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and his former deputy and RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
The Emergency Response Room at the Abu Shouk camp near El-Fasher on Sunday said RSF fighters stormed the site, seizing eight unarmed civilians — six women, a 40-day-old baby and a three-year-old child — and taking them to an undisclosed location.
More than 20 camp residents were missing, the rescuers said, warning the actual number could be higher.
Abu Shouk, home to tens of thousands of displaced people, has been attacked twice this month. The first assault left dead more than 40 people, according to first responders.
On Saturday, RSF artillery hit the emergency and trauma unit of a hospital in El-Fasher, wounding seven people, including a staff member, a doctor told AFP.
The bombardment, which continued into Sunday morning, “caused damage to the emergency department, forcing us to suspend operations,” said the doctor, requesting anonymity for safety reasons.
The hospital is one of only three still functioning in the city.
Since losing Khartoum in March, the RSF has stepped up attacks on El-Fasher and surrounding camps in a bid to tighten its hold on western Sudan where it now controls most of the Darfur region.
Abu Shouk is among three camps outside El-Fasher where famine was declared late in 2024.
The United Nations has warned famine could spread to the city, though a lack of data has so far delayed a possible declaration.
The conflict, which has killed tens of thousands, has triggered what the UN calls the world’s biggest displacement and hunger crisis. Both sides face accusations of war crimes and using starvation as a weapon of war.
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Sudan’s RSF shells hospital, abducts 8 in El Fasher: rescuers
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Sudan’s RSF shells hospital, abducts 8 in El Fasher: rescuers
- The Emergency Response Room at the Abu Shouk camp near El Fasher on Sunday said RSF fighters stormed the site, seizing eight unarmed civilians — six women, a 40 day old baby and a three year old child and taking them to an undisclosed location
Netanyahu mocks corruption trial as ‘Bugs Bunny’ farce
JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced the ongoing corruption case against him as a “Bugs Bunny trial” and defended his controversial pardon request in a video published on social media.
The three-minute video, released late Thursday, came a week after Netanyahu formally requested a pardon from Israeli President Isaac Herzog, arguing that his prosecution was dividing the nation.
US President Donald Trump also sent a letter last month to Herzog with the same request.
In the video shared online late Thursday, Netanyahu denounced the proceedings a “political trial” designed to force him from office, reiterating his longstanding denial of any wrongdoing.
The charges include two cases in which Netanyahu allegedly negotiated favorable media coverage from Israeli news outlets, and a third involving accusations he accepted more than $260,000 in luxury gifts — including cigars, jewelry, and champagne from billionaires in exchange for political favors.
A fourth corruption charge was previously dismissed.
In the video, Netanyahu held up a Bugs Bunny puppet, mocking prosecutors for allegedly citing a cartoon doll he received as a gift for his son 29 years ago as evidence against him.
“From now on, this trial will be known as the Bugs Bunny trial,” he declared.
Netanyahu further dismissed the cigar gifts as presents “from a friend” and claimed his alleged attempts to secure favorable coverage from “a second-rate Internet site” instead resulted in “the most hateful, antagonistic, negative press coverage you can imagine in Israel.”
Netanyahu is the first sitting Israeli prime minister to stand trial for corruption.
The proceedings, which began in 2019, have recently required him to testify three times weekly — a schedule he argues prevents him from effectively governing.
“This farce is costing the country dearly,” he said. “I can’t deal with that... So I asked for a pardon.”
The cases have exposed sharp divisions in Israeli society.
On Monday, before Netanyahu’s latest court appearance, rival groups of protesters gathered outside the Tel Aviv courthouse — some chanting in support of the prime minister, others opposing him, including demonstrators wearing bright orange prison-style jumpsuits to imply that he should be imprisoned.
The three-minute video, released late Thursday, came a week after Netanyahu formally requested a pardon from Israeli President Isaac Herzog, arguing that his prosecution was dividing the nation.
US President Donald Trump also sent a letter last month to Herzog with the same request.
In the video shared online late Thursday, Netanyahu denounced the proceedings a “political trial” designed to force him from office, reiterating his longstanding denial of any wrongdoing.
The charges include two cases in which Netanyahu allegedly negotiated favorable media coverage from Israeli news outlets, and a third involving accusations he accepted more than $260,000 in luxury gifts — including cigars, jewelry, and champagne from billionaires in exchange for political favors.
A fourth corruption charge was previously dismissed.
In the video, Netanyahu held up a Bugs Bunny puppet, mocking prosecutors for allegedly citing a cartoon doll he received as a gift for his son 29 years ago as evidence against him.
“From now on, this trial will be known as the Bugs Bunny trial,” he declared.
Netanyahu further dismissed the cigar gifts as presents “from a friend” and claimed his alleged attempts to secure favorable coverage from “a second-rate Internet site” instead resulted in “the most hateful, antagonistic, negative press coverage you can imagine in Israel.”
Netanyahu is the first sitting Israeli prime minister to stand trial for corruption.
The proceedings, which began in 2019, have recently required him to testify three times weekly — a schedule he argues prevents him from effectively governing.
“This farce is costing the country dearly,” he said. “I can’t deal with that... So I asked for a pardon.”
The cases have exposed sharp divisions in Israeli society.
On Monday, before Netanyahu’s latest court appearance, rival groups of protesters gathered outside the Tel Aviv courthouse — some chanting in support of the prime minister, others opposing him, including demonstrators wearing bright orange prison-style jumpsuits to imply that he should be imprisoned.
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