Witnesses reported a surge in violence in the western Sudanese city of Nyala and other areas within the state of South Darfur on Sunday, as Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) announced that the army and “extremist remnants of the defunct regime” committed “most heinous crimes and violations against innocent civilians in the city of Nyala, in the state of South Darfur.”
The Sudanese conflict has led to daily confrontations in the streets of the capital, Khartoum and the uprooting of over 4 million individuals within Sudan and beyond its borders, extending to Chad, Egypt, South Sudan, and other nations.
Intermittent clashes between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have erupted in Nyala, the nation’s second-largest city and a crucial hub for the delicate Darfur region.
The latest flare-up has lasted for “three consecutive days” according to RSF, with the army, which controls western part of city, attacking RSF positions in the east.”
“Indiscriminate shelling with heavy artillery on a number of neighborhoods in the city of Nyala killed more than 43 people, including 8 children and women,” RSF statement said.
The clashes have resulted in the impairment of electricity, water, and telecommunications networks, with RSF saying that rescue operations and personnel are facing difficulty in reaching some of the neighborhoods due to heavy bombing.
The Darfur Bar Association, a national human rights monitoring organization, reported that as of Saturday, a minimum of eight individuals had lost their lives.
RSF also said that the army had cut off communication networks in the city.
Over the past few days, clashes have expanded around 100 kilometers (60 miles) west of Nyala, reaching the Kubum region and resulting in the deaths of dozens, as reported by witnesses.
Clashes also continued in the capital Khartoum over the weekend where “12 people were killed, including two children, and 17 others were injured due to the indiscriminate bombing by air and heavy artillery on the neighborhoods and areas south,” according to RSF.
The United Nations estimates that approximately 300,000 individuals lost their lives, while former Sudanese regime leaders are sought by the International Criminal Court for charges of genocide and crimes against humanity.
In July, Volker Perthes, the United Nations’ special representative to Sudan, cautioned that the conflict displayed no indications of swift resolution and had the potential to evolve into an ethnically fueled civil war.
RSF statement on Sunday called on “all regional and international organizations to condemn these criminal acts that the” army and the loyalists of the former regime have been committing against civilians, adding that they amount to war crimes.
Diplomatic attempts at mediation have thus far proven unsuccessful, with both factions utilizing ceasefires to regroup.