Sudan

Sudanese army thwarts major RSF Attack on al-Fashir, kill senior commander

Sudan's General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan salutes as he listens to the national anthem, after landing in the military airport of Port Sudan on his first trip away following the war-inflicted crisis in Khartoum, on August 27, 2023. (Photo: Ibrahim Mohammed Ishak/Reuters)

By Hanifa Adan | Saturday, June 15, 2024

Ali Yagoub was a leading commander for the RSF in al-Fashir, the last major city in Darfur that was not under the RSF's control.

A senior commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has been killed in battles around al-Fashir, the capital city of the North Darfur State in western Sudan, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) announced on Friday.

"The armed forces and the joint force thwarted an attack by the RSF militia, inflicting heavy losses on them represented in hundreds of deaths and injuries, including their criminal commander, Ali Yagoub, who was killed in the failed attack attempt," the army said in a statement.

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"With the grace of Allah and His blessing, the armed forces and the joint forces thwarted the attack and inflicted heavy losses on the attackers."

Yagoub was a leading commander for the RSF in al-Fashir, the last major city in Darfur that was not under the RSF's control.

The army added that dozens of combat vehicles were destroyed or captured, forcing the RSF to flee the battlefield. It prayed for the fallen soldiers and wished the wounded a speedy recovery, asserting that "victory from Allah is near."

This renewed assault came as a direct challenge to a recent resolution by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), calling for an end to the weeks-long siege of al-Fashir.

It marks the latest escalation in the broader conflict that erupted in Sudan on April 15, 2023, between the SAF, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the RSF, loyal to General Mohamed Hamdan "Hemedti" Dagalo.

The ongoing violence has claimed the lives of at least 15,550 people and displaced over 8.8 million nationwide, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, excluding the latest fatalities reported from al-Fashir.

Ali, the commander of the RSF's North Darfur sector, had been attempting to seize al-Fashir since May 10. Fierce clashes between the SAF and the RSF have been raging in the city, resulting in the deaths of 288 civilians and injuries to 1,300 others, according to official statistics.

The United Nations and human rights groups have expressed fears of ethnic cleansing if the RSF captures El Fasher, a city of 1.8 million people and the last army stronghold in the Darfur region.

The humanitarian crisis in Sudan has reached critical levels, with the UN predicting that 756,000 people will face catastrophic food shortages by September.

There was no immediate comment from the RSF.

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