<p>Cairo: The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces attacked the main still-functioning hospital in al-Fashir, in Sudan's North Darfur state on Friday, killing nine people and injuring 20, according to a local health official and activists.</p><p>A drone fired four missiles at the hospital overnight, destroying wards, waiting areas and other facilities, said state health minister Ibrahim Khatir and the al-Fashir resistance committee, a pro-democracy group that monitors violence in the area.</p> .<p>Images they shared showed debris scattered over hospital beds and damaged ceilings and walls. The RSF says it does not target civilians and could not immediately be reached for comment.</p><p>Sudan's army and the RSF have been locked in conflict for more than 18 months, triggering a profound humanitarian crisis in which more than 12 million people have been driven from their homes and U.N. agencies have struggled to deliver relief.</p><p>Al-Fashir is one of the most active frontlines between the RSF and the Sudanese army and its allies, which are fighting to maintain a last foothold in the Darfur region. Observers fear that an RSF victory there could bring ethnic retribution as happened in West Darfur last year.</p> .<p>Nearby Zamzam camp, where experts say a famine is occurring among a population of more than half a million people, has also come under RSF artillery fire over the last two weeks, forcing thousands to leave the camp.</p><p>The army has responded with airstrikes that have targeted al-Fashir and surrounding towns. This week it staged one of the deadliest attacks in the war, killing more than 100 in the town of Kabkabiya.</p><p>At the UN Security Council earlier this week, Sudan accused the United Arab Emirates of carrying out drone attacks for the RSF from Amdjarass in Chad, targeting al-Fashir and other cities in the north of Sudan as well as supplying weaponry and training.</p> .<p>The UAE denies supporting the RSF and says it only carries out flights carrying humanitarian aid for Sudanese refugees in Chad.</p><p>Hospitals in al-Fashir have frequently come under fire in the war, leaving Saudi Hospital the last major functioning facility in the area.</p><p>The same has happened across the country's warzones. In the Khartoum state, nearly half of the hospitals have been damaged, severely hampering access to medical care, according to a report this week by the Sudanese American Physicians Association and the Yale School of Public Health Humanitarian Research Lab.</p>
<p>Cairo: The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces attacked the main still-functioning hospital in al-Fashir, in Sudan's North Darfur state on Friday, killing nine people and injuring 20, according to a local health official and activists.</p><p>A drone fired four missiles at the hospital overnight, destroying wards, waiting areas and other facilities, said state health minister Ibrahim Khatir and the al-Fashir resistance committee, a pro-democracy group that monitors violence in the area.</p> .<p>Images they shared showed debris scattered over hospital beds and damaged ceilings and walls. The RSF says it does not target civilians and could not immediately be reached for comment.</p><p>Sudan's army and the RSF have been locked in conflict for more than 18 months, triggering a profound humanitarian crisis in which more than 12 million people have been driven from their homes and U.N. agencies have struggled to deliver relief.</p><p>Al-Fashir is one of the most active frontlines between the RSF and the Sudanese army and its allies, which are fighting to maintain a last foothold in the Darfur region. Observers fear that an RSF victory there could bring ethnic retribution as happened in West Darfur last year.</p> .<p>Nearby Zamzam camp, where experts say a famine is occurring among a population of more than half a million people, has also come under RSF artillery fire over the last two weeks, forcing thousands to leave the camp.</p><p>The army has responded with airstrikes that have targeted al-Fashir and surrounding towns. This week it staged one of the deadliest attacks in the war, killing more than 100 in the town of Kabkabiya.</p><p>At the UN Security Council earlier this week, Sudan accused the United Arab Emirates of carrying out drone attacks for the RSF from Amdjarass in Chad, targeting al-Fashir and other cities in the north of Sudan as well as supplying weaponry and training.</p> .<p>The UAE denies supporting the RSF and says it only carries out flights carrying humanitarian aid for Sudanese refugees in Chad.</p><p>Hospitals in al-Fashir have frequently come under fire in the war, leaving Saudi Hospital the last major functioning facility in the area.</p><p>The same has happened across the country's warzones. In the Khartoum state, nearly half of the hospitals have been damaged, severely hampering access to medical care, according to a report this week by the Sudanese American Physicians Association and the Yale School of Public Health Humanitarian Research Lab.</p>