According to the UN, heavy fighting broke out in the middle of the large city of Al-Fashir in the Sudanese region of Darfur.
Fighting is ongoing in areas of the city despite repeated appeals, said the humanitarian coordinator for Sudan, Clementine Nkweta-Salami, on Saturday. Heavy weapons are being used in densely populated parts of Al-Fashir. Injured civilians were taken to hospitals and others tried to flee the combat zone. Nkweta-Salami said she was “deeply disturbed” and “disturbed” by the reports of the fighting. A total of 800,000 people are at risk as a result.
For over a year, Sudan has been rocked by heavy fighting between the troops of military ruler Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the RSF militia of his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo. Tens of thousands of people have been killed so far, and around 8.5 million people are on the run, according to the UN. Aid agencies have repeatedly warned of a worsening humanitarian crisis.
In the states of Sudan’s Darfur region – whose total area is roughly the same as France – the RSF has taken control of four out of five capitals. Al-Fashir is so far the only capital that the RSF has not occupied.