Dozens of people have been killed in a drone strike at a displacement shelter in el-Fasher, a besieged Sudanese city on the brink of collapse, activists said.

The resistance committee for el-Fasher, made up of local citizens and activists, said the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) hit Dar al-Arqam camp, located within a university, with two drone strikes and eight artillery shells. The RSF has denied it carried out the strike.

Children, women and the elderly were killed in cold blood, and many were completely burned, a statement from the group said.

Eyewitnesses described scenes of panic as rescuers pulled bodies from the rubble.

Sudan Doctors Network reported that 57 people were killed in the drone attack, including 17 children, with an additional 17 injured. Activists suggest that at least 60 people have died.

Hospitals, already struggling under months of siege, have been overwhelmed, with doctors treating the wounded on floors and in corridors.

The RSF has surrounded el-Fasher for the last 17 months in an effort to take control of the Sudanese army's last stronghold in the Darfur region.

The situation in el-Fasher has gone beyond disaster and genocide, according to the resistance group.

Sudan has been ravaged by conflict since 2023, following a fallout between top commanders of the RSF and the Sudanese army, resulting in one of the worst humanitarian crises in the region.

The army controls most of the north and east, while el-Fasher is the last major urban center in Darfur still held by the army and its allies, with the RSF controlling almost all of Darfur and much of neighboring Kordofan.

If el-Fasher falls, the RSF will control the entire Darfur region, where they plan to form an alternative government.

Recent attacks have intensified, and experts believe the city could soon fall unless the army receives immediate reinforcements.

Research indicates the RSF has completed an earthen wall around el-Fasher, bolstering their siege and making escape for civilians even more challenging.

The UN estimates that 250,000 civilians are trapped in el-Fasher and warns that continued strikes on civilian areas may amount to war crimes.

With constant bombardment and decreasing food and medical supplies, hunger and disease have spread throughout the city.

Just days ago, at least 13 people were killed when the RSF shelled one of the last remaining hospitals in el-Fasher.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk condemned the ongoing assaults on civilians, saying he was appalled by the RSF's blatant disregard for human life.

Over 150,000 people have died in the conflict across Sudan, with approximately 12 million displaced from their homes.