The scope of the ongoing war in Sudan, which has been going on for five months, has expanded to reach two major cities: El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, and El Fula, the capital of West Kordofan state, residents confirmed to media on Friday.
One resident reported hearing the sound of “heavy weapon battles coming from the east of the city,” according to media.
Another person mentioned that members of “the army and central reserves clashed with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and set fire to government buildings” during the battles, confirming that “there were casualties on both sides that have not been fully counted due to the ongoing fighting.”
He also confirmed incidents of “looting and plundering of commercial shops in the city’s market.”
The situation is particularly concerning in El Fasher, where the battles have ceased for about two months because many families sought refuge in the area to escape the looting, rape, shelling, and extrajudicial executions occurring in other parts of Darfur (West).
El Fasher hosts the “largest gathering of internally displaced civilians, with 600,000 people seeking refuge there,” as explained by Nathaniel Raymond, the Director of the Humanitarian Research Lab at Yale University.
The fighting has also forced millions to leave their towns and homes, either to other states away from the violence or to leave the country altogether.
The war broke out between the army led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo on April 15th.
The conflict has been concentrated in the capital and its suburbs, as well as in the Darfur region in the west of the country and some southern areas. It has resulted in the deaths of at least 3,900 people so far.