More than 18 civilians killed in Rapid Support Forces attack on El Fasher in Sudan.

Arabian Sea Newspaper - Special

Arab Sea_Follow-ups: A Rapid Support Forces (RSF) attack killed at least 20 civilians on Tuesday evening in the besieged city of El Fasher in the Darfur region of western Sudan, according to two medical sources. El Fasher is the last major city in North Darfur still under the control of the Sudanese army and its allies, amid an ongoing war with the Rapid Support Forces for more than two years. Witnesses confirmed that the Sudanese army and its allies are currently holed up in the headquarters of the Sixth Division inside the city. Mohanad Al-Nour, a Sudanese expert from the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy, believes that the Rapid Support Forces' control of the main military headquarters could lead to their complete control of the city, warning of a terrible disaster and potential crimes if this happens. The casualty toll reported by the two medical sources was limited to cases transferred to the Southern and El Fasher hospitals, while an unknown number of dead were buried directly, especially in the southern sector of the Abu Shouk camp for the displaced on the northern outskirts of the city. The local Resistance Committees Coordination confirmed the advance of the Rapid Support Forces from the northern neighborhoods of the city since Monday, noting the occurrence of attacks there. The coordination explained that a number of civilians were killed inside their homes and others were arrested in mysterious circumstances in the Al-Shurfa neighborhood north of the city, amid clashes, shelling, and continuous drone flights over El Fasher for the second day in a row. The residents of El Fasher, estimated at about 260,000 people, half of whom are children, have been suffering from a continuous siege for more than 500 days with a near absence of humanitarian aid, according to United Nations estimates. The Sudanese army, for its part, announced that it had repelled RSF attacks during a counter-attack it carried out on Tuesday. The ongoing war in Sudan since April 2023 has resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands and the displacement of millions of people.