Sudanese army repels RSF assault on El-Fasher amid heavy fighting
The Sudanese army engaged in fierce battles on Saturday against the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in El-Fasher, the last major city in Darfur still under military control. The clashes came after the paramilitaries advanced into the city on Friday, according to a military source.
Residents of El-Fasher, a city of over one million people, reported being woken before dawn by intense machine-gun fire. The RSF has besieged the city since May 2024, escalating its assault this year after losing control of Khartoum.
The Sudanese army claimed to have recaptured key sites, including Shala Prison and the headquarters of the Central Reserve Police, inflicting significant losses on the RSF. However, an RSF source disputed this, asserting that both sites, along with the city’s livestock market, remain under their control. Videos circulated by the RSF on Friday purported to show their fighters occupying these locations, but the authenticity of the footage has not been independently verified.
Renewed fighting devastates El-Fasher
Witnesses reported close-quarters combat in several areas of the city. Salah Issa, a resident of Awlad al-Rif, described clashes near the airport in the city’s western sector early Saturday morning. Heavy shelling earlier in the week intensified the assault, with activists stating it began Tuesday evening and continued into Wednesday.
The violence has taken a heavy toll on civilians. Eight people were killed on Thursday when an RSF drone strike hit a bomb shelter, according to a doctor at El-Fasher Teaching Hospital. The city remains under a communications blackout, with most health facilities shut down due to the ongoing fighting. Comprehensive casualty figures remain difficult to determine.
Humanitarian crisis deepens
The United Nations has raised alarms about the dire conditions facing trapped civilians in El-Fasher. Many residents are forced to shelter in makeshift bunkers dug in courtyards and outside homes to escape the violence. Nationwide, tens of thousands have been killed since the conflict erupted in April 2023, and over 14 million people have been displaced.
El-Fasher’s strategic importance makes it a critical battleground in the wider conflict, which continues to devastate Sudan and escalate the humanitarian crisis.
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