Paramilitary drone attack on mosque in Sudan kills at least 70, army says
Cairo (AP): A drone attack blamed on Sudan's paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces struck a mosque during prayers Friday, killing at least 70 worshippers in the North Darfur region, aid workers and the Sudanese army said.
The strike in the besieged city of El Fasher completely destroyed the mosque, and the death toll would likely go higher because bodies still were buried in the rubble, said a worker with the local aid group Emergency Response Rooms. The worker spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation by the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF.
Sudan's army, which has been fighting against the RSF in escalating violence since April 2023, said in a statement that it was mourning the deaths of at least 70 victims in the attack.
“Targeting civilians unjustly is the motto of this rebel militia, and it continues to do so in full view of the entire world,” the statement read.
Further details of the attack were difficult to obtain because it happened in an area where many international organisations have pulled out due to security risks in the crossfire of battles between the RSF and the army.
The fight between the two sides has erupted into a civil war that has killed at least 40,000 people, according to the World Health Organisation, displaced as many as 12 million others and pushed many to the brink of famine.
The Resistance Committees in El Fasher, a group of local activists who track abuses, posted a video Friday reportedly showing parts of the mosque reduced to rubble with several scattered bodies. The Associated Press could not independently verify the footage.
The Darfur Victims Support Organization, which monitors abuses against civilians, said the attack happened at a mosque on the Daraga al-Oula street at around 5 am local time, citing witnesses.
The drone strike was the latest in a series of attacks over the past week during heavy clashes between the two sides in El Fasher.
Satellite imagery posted Friday by the Humanitarian Research Lab at Yale University showed signs of drone activity and the impact of explosions in the El Fasher area earlier in the week.
The images showed damage to several structures in the famine-stricken Abu Shouk refugee camp, Located outside El Fasher, the camp houses 450,000 displaced people and has been repeatedly attacked throughout the war.
“El Fasher is falling to RSF forces," who now control the Abu Shouk camp and have overrun the local operational headquarters of the army, the Yale-based group said.
The Resistance Committee in El Fasher said in a statement Thursday that the RSF had targeted several unarmed civilians, including women and older adults, in displacement shelters in the city.
On Tuesday, the Sudan Doctors Network had said that the RSF killed 18 people and kidnapped 14 others, including three girls, in El Fasher in what it said was a surge in kidnappings.
A Friday report by UN Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner (OHCHR) recorded the deaths of at least 3,384 civilians in Sudan, mostly in Darfur, between January and June, nearly 80% of the number of civilian casualties recorded in 2024. The real death toll is likely significantly higher.
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SC to hear on May 4 PIL seeking stringent guidelines for issuing Aadhaar to adolescents, adults
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a plea seeking a direction to the Unique Identification Authority of India to issue new Aadhaar cards only to citizens up to the age of six years, and frame stringent guidelines for its issuance to adolescents and adults to stop infiltrators from masquerading as Indian citizens.
As per the apex court's causelist of May 4, the plea would come up for hearing before a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi.
The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay has also sought a direction to the authorities to install display boards at common service centres stating that the 12-digit unique identification number is only a "proof of identity" and not a proof of citizenship, address or date of birth.
Besides all the states and Union Territories, the plea has made the UIDAI -- which is the authority that issues Aadhaar -- and the Union ministries of home, law and justice, and electronics and information technology as parties.
The plea, filed through advocate Ashwani Dubey, said Aadhaar, originally intended as a proof of identity, has increasingly become a "foundational document" enabling individuals to obtain other identification documents, such as ration cards, domicile certificates and voter identity cards.
"The UIDAI has issued 144 crore Aadhaar and 99 percent Indians have been enrolled. Therefore, the petitioner is filing this writ petition as a PIL under Article 32, seeking a direction to UIDAI to issue new Aadhaar to children only and frame new stringent guidelines for adolescents and adults, so as to stop infiltrators from getting it and masquerading as Indian citizens," the plea said.
It said the need to file the plea arose when the petitioner came to know the manner in which infiltrators are able to procure Aadhaar through a verification process that is weak and can be easily manipulated.
"Foreigners apply for Aadhaar under the 'foreign' category. But infiltrators apply for Aadhaar under the 'Indian citizen' category and get it easily made. Thereafter, they obtain a ration card, birth and domicile certificate, driving licence, et cetera, essentially becoming indistinguishable from Indian citizens…," it said.
Besides seeking other directions, the plea has raised legal questions, including whether the Aadhaar Act 2016 has become "temporally unreasonable" for failing to keep up with the legislative intent of distinguishing foreigners from Indian citizens.
It said the alleged misuse of Aadhaar undermines targeted welfare delivery and leads to diversion of public resources.
