Sudanese Armed Forces: ‘5 children among 10 dead in North Darfur shelling’

Artillery shelling of the North Darfur capital El Fasher, allegedly by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has left 10 civilians dead, including five children, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) claim. Escalating fighting around the North Darfur capital has seen deadly exchanges of artillery and drone attacks by all belligerents.

The SAF say that artillery shelling launched by the RSF on Wednesday killed five children under the age of six, in addition to seriously wounding four women, noting that the injured were transferred to health centres for treatment, amid a state of tension and anxiety among the population.

As reported by Radio Dabanga, yesterday, the command of the SAF 6th Infantry Division said that on Monday it managed to shoot down seven drones in El Fasher, noting that 40 drones were launched towards the city, in addition to 50 artillery shells. Previously, the 6th Infantry Division claimed to have shot down “more than 100 drones in 10 days”, amid calls for an international regime of control over the trade, trafficking, and proliferation of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

Sources have told Radio Dabanga that the SAF has made “significant progress” on a number of axes.

Shelling

On Tuesday, the command of the 6th Infantry Division in El Fasher said the RSF shelled the city of El Fasher with 37 artillery shells, killing 10 civilians, including a girl, and wounding 23 others.

The command said that the RSF launched drones to target vital sites inside the city, noting that the armed forces managed to shoot down a number of them.

These developments coincided with the continuation of military operations between the RSF and SAF, as the SAF announced attacks targeting RSF positions, including the destruction of a Land Cruiser equipped with a 23 cannon and three other combat vehicles, in addition to targeting a maintenance workshop of vehicles it said belonged to the RSF on Wednesday, according to the daily report of the 6th Infantry Divisio.

Artillery

In another operation, artillery and armoured vehicles of the 6th Infantry Division shelled a supply convoy of the RSF as it moved from east to west of El Fasher, destroying a tractor vehicle loaded with weapons, ammunition, and spare parts, and killing eight members of the targeted force, according to a division command report.

The Special Action Forces and the Joint Reserve also carried out combing and securing operations in the areas of operations, and announced the seizure of two combat vehicles equipped with machine guns and ammunition, noting that they foiled an attempt to use them to lure government forces.

The armed forces said that the warplanes managed to destroy five combat vehicles on Kutum road, and also managed to destroy a tractor truck loaded with weapons and ammunition coming from northeast of El Fasher.

Sources from the city revealed that the armed forces managed during the past two days to regain a number of neighbourhoods of the city, while citizens pointed to the increase in looting and theft in the neighbourhoods recently retaken by the army, calling on the authorities to intervene and control the situation.

Attack on Tawila

Minni Minawi’s Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) accuse the RSF of attacking a number of villages in the north and east of Tawila locality, west of El Fasher, on Tuesday. The movement said in a statement that the attack included the killing of civilians, including women, children, the elderly and the sick, terrorizing them, systematically looting all their properties and burning a number of villages.

These reports are difficult to veruify, however, Radio Dabanga has approached the SAF for clarification, and the RSF for comment. In the past, all belligerents, with the exception of official statements, have been reticent to respond to questions from Radio Dabanga regarding ongoing military operations.