Sudanese town bombed, analysts report ‘unprecedented’ fighting

Heavy fighting broke out on Saturday in a Sudanese town besieged by paramilitaries, witnesses told AFP. US investigators also reported unprecedented and escalating fighting in the capital of North Darfur state.

El-Fasher is one of five state capitals in Sudan’s western Darfur region and the only one not held by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which have been fighting the regular army since April 2023.

According to the United Nations, the war in much of Sudan has led to the world’s largest refugee crisis, with millions of people displaced and famine in a refugee camp near El-Fasher.

Darfur has been the scene of some of the worst atrocities of the war and the RSF has been besieging El-Fasher since May.

“Neighbourhoods are completely deserted and all you hear are explosions and rockets,” 52-year-old Ibrahim Ishaq told AFP.

“The central market area has become uninhabitable due to the intensity of the explosions,” said Ishaq, who fled the city to the west on Friday.

Witnesses reported military bombardments south and east of the city on Saturday, and heard anti-aircraft gunfire.

The Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab said in a report Friday that its analysis confirmed that “unprecedented large-scale combat operations” have taken place in El-Fasher over the past 10 days, “with a significant escalation in the past 36 hours” involving the military and paramilitaries.

Reports were cited as saying “a major multi-directional RSF attack from the north, east and south” on Thursday.

Reduced to rubble

Darfur Governor Mini Minawi said on social media platform X on Thursday that the army had repelled “a major attack” by the RSF. However, the paramilitaries said they had captured military sites in El-Fasher.

Using satellite imagery and other data, the Yale researchers determined that the munitions hits were “likely related to rapid airstrikes” by the regular army, but they also said other structural damage resulted from “RSF bombardments” and combat activity by both sides.

Whatever the ultimate outcome of the battle, the Yale study said the current level of fighting “will likely effectively reduce what remains of El-Fasher to rubble.”

US special envoy to Sudan Tom Perriello said on social media platform X on Saturday: “We are extremely concerned about the renewed attacks by the RSF.”

He urged the RSF to “stop the attack.”

The number of casualties could not be immediately determined.

According to Perriello, the war in Sudan has already killed tens of thousands of people, with some estimates putting the number as high as 150,000.

Attacks near Khartoum

In the capital Khartoum, about 800 kilometers from El-Fasher, witnesses reported heavy explosions and attacks in the south of the city on Saturday.

Independent United Nations experts earlier this month called for an urgent “impartial force” to be sent to Sudan to protect civilians.

Sudan’s foreign ministry, which is loyal to the military, rejected the idea.