At least 47 killed, tens of thousands flee as paramilitaries attack Sudan's al-Fashir

At least 30 civilians and 17 soldiers were killed, in the latest surge of violence in the Sudanese city of el-Fasher, according to local governor Minni Minnawi on Saturday as reported by Al Jazeera.

“This shows that the goal of those attacking el-Fasher is to exterminate the city,” he stated.

The conflict, which began over a year ago in Khartoum, has now spread to Darfur, reviving ethnic violence and old rivalries from a brutal war in the early 2000s.

El-Fasher stands as the last significant city in Darfur, not under the control of the RSF, which has seized nearly all major cities in the western Sudanese state.

Thousands of civilians are trapped in the crossfire. Alex de Waal, executive director of the World Peace Foundation, warned that the fall of el-Fasher could lead to increased brutality against civilians and noted that a famine is already taking hold in Darfur.

“El-Fashir is significant for a number of reasons,” De Waal explained. “It’s the last stronghold of the internationally-recognised government… in Darfur. It’s also a place where the other armed groups that are allied with the government are holed up.”

Tens of thousands of people fled their homes in a camp in the Sudanese city of al-Fashir, activists said after the raid by Rapid Support Forces paramilitary forces.

Around 60 per cent of the more than 100,000 inhabitants fled on Thursday, according to the Coordinating Committee for Refugees and Displaced People, which oversees camps in the region. Fighting continued in other parts of al-Fashir on Friday, locals said.

The RSF and its allies swept through four other Darfur state capitals last year, and were blamed for a campaign of ethnically driven killings against non-Arab groups and other abuses in West Darfur - accusations they have dismissed.

There was no immediate comment from the RSF or the army on the latest clashes in al-Fashir, a historic centre of power. Both have blamed each other for the violence.

The UN special adviser on the prevention of genocide said this week there was a risk of genocide and allegations that it was already taking place.

Civilians in al-Fashir and other parts of Darfur were being targeted on the basis of their identity and skin colour, Alice Wairimu Nderitu told the UN Security Council on Tuesday.

Abu Shouk is home to survivors of the violence in Darfur two decades ago, where janjaweed militias, the precursors to the RSF, fought alongside the Sudanese army and were accused of genocide.

About half a million more people moved into al-Fashir during the ongoing war that broke out between the army and the RSF in the capital Khartoum in April 2023, as long-simmering tensions over integrating the two forces came to a head.