As the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group attacks the besieged cities of el-Fasher in North Darfur and Bara, North Kordofan, fighting has gotten worse in Sudan.
A military source told Al Jazeera that the RSF launched artillery fire from the Sudanese armed forces (SAF) in Bara, a city that is 350 kilometers (215 miles) southwest of Khartoum, from several directions on Saturday morning, causing the city to be attacked.
One of the biggest urban areas under the control of the army is close to the RSF’s western front line, but its fighters encircle it.
Following the assault on North Kordofan’s second-largest city, communications networks were disrupted. As shelling and gunfire continued into the morning in El-Fasher, clashes continued into the early hours as smoke rose over the provincial capital.
According to the Sudan Tribune, the paramilitary force claimed in videos that their fighters were now positioned close to the army’s local command center, the 6th Infantry Division headquarters, after seizing the governor of North Darfur’s residence in El-Fasher.
In the video, RSF fighters promised to attack the city center.
Humanitarian crisis “exceeds all comprehension.”
According to a source from the 6th Infantry Division, a “cautious calm” had broken out over El-Fasher by Friday morning following what he described as a significant attack the day before.
However, the city’s residents who were besieged remained obedient. It occurs “everywhere, even right here.” One resident of El-Fasher reported to Al Jazeera that an artillery shell landed [110 yards]from.
Medical professionals have been notified that the humanitarian situation is at a catastrophic level as a result of the escalation. The Sudan Doctors Network’s Dr. Razan Al-Mahdi stated in a statement on Thursday that the el-Fasher crisis had “surpassed all comprehension.”
According to her, “we lose no fewer than three children every day as a result of malnutrition, disease, and a dire lack of medical and humanitarian resources.”
Four UN organizations issued a warning this week that more than 250, 000 civilians, half of whom were children, were still without access to food and healthcare as a result of the 16-month siege of El-Fasher.
According to the organizations, children were now receiving treatment because their health facilities were crumbling.
According to the Sudan Doctors Network’s casualty data, at least 17 children were killed and 22 others were hurt in El-Fasher alone in October, according to Save the Children’s on Tuesday.
The RSF launched what the SAF described as a significant assault from five directions after fighting in El-Fasher on Thursday. The army reportedly resisted that attack.
Additionally, drone strikes that target civilian infrastructure have increased significantly during the war.
This week, Radhouane Nouicer, a UN expert, expressed concern about the intensification of drone strikes by both sides. Six workers were hurt and power was out of the six as a result of RSF attacks on power infrastructure on Tuesday.
RSF drones flew over Khartoum International Airport for a fourth day in a row on Friday, aiming at it after the army had taken control of the city’s capital in March. As a result, the reopening has been postponed.
The conflict, which started in April 2023, has caused the most humanitarian crisis in history, leaving 30 million people without access to aid and tens of thousands of people dead.
This weekend, Mohieldin Salem, the foreign minister, made a trip to Washington, DC, to discuss peace and human rights. The Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs refrained from engaging in direct negotiations with the SAF and RSF in light of reports that suggested this was happening.
Source: Aljazeera
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