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Sudanese army airstrikes on Nyala, the capital of South Darfur state, dealt heavy blows to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Ahmed Ishaq Shanab, the Darfur regional government’s information minister and spokesman, said Sunday.
Shanab called the latest strikes “painful” for the group, citing steep losses in personnel and equipment, Sudan’s state news agency SUNA reported.
The army said Friday it hit RSF command centers and positions in Nyala, an administrative and military hub for the paramilitary group. It said the raids killed dozens of fighters and destroyed several command centers.
Shanab said the RSF is “not safe” in Nyala or elsewhere and the army will chase the group as far as Um Dafuq, near Sudan’s border with the Central African Republic. Operations continue, he added, with new areas coming under army control, though he did not name them.
Meanwhile, the RSF accused the army Friday of a drone strike on a livestock market in Nyala that caused civilian casualties. It remains unclear whether this matches the operation the army announced. Neither the casualty figures nor the targets could be independently verified.
The fighting also claimed civilian lives in West Darfur, where an RSF attack on a displacement camp left at least 11 dead and 5 injured, a government official said Sunday.
Babiker Hamdeen, the regional government’s health and social welfare minister, said the strike hit the Hajar Sanakit area of Sirba locality in West Darfur state on Saturday, according to SUNA.
Women and children made up most of the casualties, he said, citing preliminary figures. He condemned the assault as a grave breach of international humanitarian law and accused the paramilitary group of repeatedly targeting civilians across Darfur.
Hamdeen said the victims had fled villages near the Sudan-Chad border last year after RSF fighters allegedly burned their homes and looted their belongings. He warned that continued international inaction risks encouraging further violations and letting those responsible escape accountability.
There was no immediate comment from the RSF on the accusations.
Nyala serves as a base for the RSF and allied forces under the Sudan Founding Alliance, known as Tasis. The paramilitary group holds most of Darfur’s five states, apart from parts of North and West Darfur still under army control.
The military runs most of Sudan’s remaining 13 states, spanning the north, east, center and south, including the capital Khartoum.
Sudan’s army and the RSF have clashed since April 2023, killing tens of thousands of people, displacing millions and deepening an already severe humanitarian crisis.
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