South Darfur militia in Sudan claims victory over the army

Locals who have been displaced told RT that the country’s humanitarian condition has gotten worse in the camps where they reside as a result of the ongoing conflicts.

Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group in Sudan, claim to have taken control of a town in South Darfur amid allegations of fierce fighting, looting, and a fresh round of internal displacement.

The RSF declared a “major victory” over the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in a statement on Sunday, saying that it now had “full control” of the army’s 61st Brigade in Kas, a district in South Darfur.

The colonel in charge of the brigade, 70 cannons, 13 combat vehicles, and 30 additional SAF members, it reported, had all been taken prisoner by the RSF. The Sudanese army hasn’t responded to the claims yet.

The RSF was charged last week by the United Nations Human Rights Office (UNHCR) with killing scores of people in West Darfur, including Masalit ethnicity, and burying them in a shallow grave. The militia has refuted the charges.

At least four civilians were murdered and numerous others were hurt in a drone attack over the weekend on a hospital in Omdurman, close of Khartoum, according to a local journalist. The attack was purportedly carried out by paramilitary troops.

Meanwhile, the RSF declared on Monday that it had carried out a “surprise operation” at the Omdurman base of Wadi Sayedna in which it had shot down SAF aircraft.

The Sudanese Ministry of Health reports that more than 3,000 people have died as a result of the combat between the RSF and SAF in Khartoum that started in the middle of April, while the UN estimates that more than two million people have been displaced.

Locals in a camp for internally displaced people in Wad Madani, 186 kilometres south of the capital, told RT that getting access to medical supplies and personnel for treatment has gotten harder. Others who fled to the next country of Libya reported that they were having trouble finding food and felt abandoned by humanitarian organisations.

Even while regional and international mediators have attempted to convince the warring factions to lay down their weapons, fierce violence has persisted in numerous areas of Sudan.