Airstrikes in Darfur, RSF shells El Fasher, army advances in central Sudan

The Sudanese Air Force bombed various places in Darfur in the past few days. At least 11 people were killed. Other fatalities have not been counted yet.

The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) resumed their shelling of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, on Wednesday. About 10,000 families fled neighbouring Zamzam camp for displaced people last week.

The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) reported advances in Khartoum, White Nile state, and North Kordofan.

At least 10 people were killed, and dozens were wounded in an aerial bombardment on El Khazan Jadeed in El Shaeiriya in East Darfur yesterday morning.

Speaking to Radio Dabanga from Khazan Jadeed, residents said that that the air raid was the first of its kind in the area. The blasts led to the burning of several houses.

The sources noted that El Shaeiriya locality hosts tens of thousands of displaced people who fled the fighting between the SAF and RSF in North Darfur since war erupted between the two military factions in April 2023. They complained about the continuous interruption of communications networks and the scarcity of satellite (Starlink) internet hubs.

They urgently appealed to “the international community and humanitarian organisations to take immediate action to protect civilians, provide urgent support to those affected, and ensure that areas sheltering displaced people are not targeted”.

Barrel bombs

In South Darfur, warplanes resumed their bombing of the state capital Nyala yesterday early morning, after a calm of a week. The Sudanese Air Force targeted Nyala Airport and neighbourhoods in the eastern part of the city with eight barrel bombs, residents told Radio Dabanga. No fatalities were reported.

The sources said that “life returned to normal later this morning, with markets and commercial places opening as usual”.

Adam Ismail, spokesman for the civil administration, set up by the RSF in South Darfur after they took control of the state in October 2023, denied claims about the destruction of a plane at Nyala airport, saying that “the aim of the rumours is to raise the morale of the army”.

Air raid No. 105

In El Koma (Kuma), northeast of El Fasher in North Darfur, one person died in an airstrike on Wednesday, a local source told Radio Dabanga.

The bombardments continued yesterday, killing and injuring a hitherto unknown number of people.

It was ‘the 105th’ air raid on the town since the outbreak of the war nearly two years ago, the source stated.

El Koma, mainly inhabited by the Arab Zeyadiya tribe is hosting more than 45,000 displaced families who fled the violence in El Fasher, other places in Darfur, and Khartoum. The area is not under RSF control.

On October 4 last year, dozens of people were killed and more than 200 others were wounded in air raids on El Koma town market. At the time, an official of El Koma locality said that the attacks confirmed that the SAF is targeting defenceless civilians. “It is impossible for a country’s army to bomb people with its air force and claim that it is doing so to protect the country.”

El Fasher, Zamzam camp

On Wednesday, the RSF renewed its heavy artillery shelling of El Fasher, while warplanes continued their airstrikes on RSF-controlled areas in the city, which has been witnessing heavy fighting for months.

Eyewitnesses said that the RSF targeted the air defence base, the airport, and other areas.

The 6th Infantry Division Command reported that a soldier was killed by sniper fire and three people were slightly injured by the RSF shelling. Warplanes launched airstrikes on the southwestern and southeastern parts of the city.

The director of the North Darfur Ministry of Social Welfare, Bodour Adam, described the humanitarian conditions in the camps and shelters for the displaced in and around El Fasher as “disastrous”.

In a press statement earlier this week, she reported that teams of the ministry had monitored the displacement from villages west of El Fasher after their areas were invaded and their properties were stolen and burned by the RSF.

Large numbers of displaced people are living rough, under trees in the open. They urgently need drinking water, food, shelter and clothing. “They are suffering from complete exhaustion and complete fatigue. They have wounds due to walking long distances and are suffering from the cold.”

The North Darfur Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid, Abbas Yousef, called on relief and charity organisations to intervene urgently to provide aid.

The UN International Organization for Migration on Wednesday reported that about 10,000 families last week fled Zamzam camp for displaced people neighbouring El Fasher in the south. The people fled the camp, hosting far more than 500,000 displaced, due to the intensification of clashes between the SAF assisted by the Darfur Joint Force, and the RSF.

Field teams reported that the people fled to El Fasher and Dar El Salam.

More than 1,500 families fled villages in Dar El Salam locality last weekend because of the increasing insecurity throughout the area. Families were displaced from 15 villages to other places in Dar El Salam.

Army advances

The SAF announced yesterday morning that they had taken control of El Hurriya Bridge in central Khartoum.

Violent SAF-RSF battles continue in the neighbourhoods of El Haj Yousef in Sharg El Nil (East Nile) locality in Khartoum North/Bahri.

In the northern part of White Nile state, Maj Gen Jamal Juma, commander of the 18th Infantry Division, said that his forces would soon take control of El Geteina, and of the Jebel Aulia dam in the White Nile south of Khartoum.

As for North Kordofan, the army announced yesterday that its forces were able to seize control the Sidra area and a number of villages in Jebel El Dayer, in its efforts to retake Jebel Kordofan, about 10 kilometres from central El Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan, and open the road to the city.