At least 30 civilians and 17 soldiers have been killed as the RSF moves deeper into the North Darfur capital, the governor said.
Dozens of civilians and soldiers were killed Friday in the latest episode of violence in the Sudanese town of El-Fasher, the local governor said, as fighting in the country shows no signs of slowing. more than a year after the start of the conflict.
At least 30 civilians and 17 soldiers were killed in attacks in the city, Minni Minnawi said on Saturday. “This shows that the objective of those attacking El-Fasher is to exterminate the city.”
The war in Sudan erupted in mid-April last year when a simmering feud between leaders of the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) escalated into violence.
The fighting has killed thousands, displaced nearly 9 million people and led to looming famine and a severe humanitarian crisis. While the war began in the capital Khartoum, it spread to Darfur and sparked ethnic violence, resurfacing old rivalries dating back to a brutal war in the early 2000s.
El-Fasher is the latest domino to fall in Darfur as the RSF has taken control of almost all major towns in the western Sudanese state.
The RSF’s steady progress on the ground prompted former Darfur rebel leaders Minnawi and Jibril Ibrahim to break months of neutrality and declare in November last year their intention to join the war alongside the SAF. The RSF emerged from what rebel groups call the “Janjaweed,” an Arab force that killed thousands of non-Arabs in Darfur during the region’s war, which began in 2003 and ended with an agreement of peace in 2020.
Since Minnawi and Ibrahim’s announcement, the Sudanese army has maintained a presence in the town, making it the last bastion of forces fighting the RSF.
“The (civil) Coordination of Democratic Civil Forces and the groups that sponsor and finance it are patiently waiting for the fall of Fashir to declare the birth of their racial militia state on the skulls of the sons of Darfur, in western Sudan. ” Minnawi said, referring to a group of civilians accused of siding with the RSF.
Thousands of civilians are trapped because of the fighting. Alex de Waal, executive director of the World Peace Foundation, said the fall of El Fashir could lead to larger-scale violence against civilians and that a famine is already raging in Darfur.
“El Fashir is important for a number of reasons,” added De Waal. “It is the last bastion of the internationally recognized government…in Darfur. It is also a place where other armed groups allied to the government take refuge.
“So if the RSF fell into the hands of the RSF, we would not only see massive carnage and looting like we have seen elsewhere, but probably also a large-scale massacre of civilians.”
