(RSF) Attack Presidential Palace, Kordofan, and White Nile; Kill Civilians in El Fasher

Today, Thursday, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) targeted the Republican Palace in central Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, with long-range artillery shelling.

According to AFP, a military source said the shelling originated from the Salha area, south of Omdurman in Greater Khartoum, and also struck the Ministry of Minerals headquarters located in the government district of the capital.

Earlier today, the Sudanese army announced that RSF forces were attacking the city of An-Nuhud in West Kordofan and had also targeted a military division headquarters in White Nile State, killing four civilians in artillery attacks on El Fasher, where the suffering of displaced people continues to worsen.

A Sudanese army source said the RSF had been attacking An-Nuhud—now the new administrative capital of West Kordofan—since early dawn with over 300 combat vehicles.

A military source reported that army forces and allied troops had repelled the RSF attack on An-Nuhud, noting that fighting was still ongoing in the city’s northern sector, where the army maintains control.

Military sources told Al Jazeera that RSF drones targeted the 18th Infantry Division command in White Nile State, southern Sudan. The drones struck the army command in Kosti with more than three missiles, causing explosions near the headquarters.

The Sudanese army also reported today that four civilians were killed and nine others injured in intense RSF artillery shelling on El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur State in western Sudan.

In a statement, the army’s 6th Infantry Division in El Fasher said the RSF heavily shelled several neighborhoods on Wednesday, resulting in four civilian deaths and nine serious injuries, with the wounded taken to hospitals for treatment.

The statement added that army forces cut RSF supply lines, destroyed five combat vehicles, seized three others, destroyed a mortar launcher, and killed ten RSF fighters.

In contrast, the RSF released videos claiming it had advanced in southern neighborhoods of El Fasher and seized control of several areas, adding that their forces were determined to secure victory and were also advancing in the northern sector of the city.

Over the past days, the RSF has continued its sustained assaults on El Fasher, aiming to take full control of the city, according to the Sudanese army and local human rights organizations.

Since May 10, 2024, clashes have broken out between the army and the RSF in El Fasher despite international warnings about the dangerous escalation in a city that serves as a humanitarian operations hub for the five Darfur states.

These developments follow continuous RSF attacks on the Zamzam displacement camp near El Fasher, which lasted several days.

On April 13, the RSF announced it had taken control of the camp after battles with the army, resulting in 400 deaths and the displacement of more than 400,000 people, according to the United Nations.

Displacement Crisis

Meanwhile, Adam Regal, spokesperson for the General Coordination of IDP and Refugee Camps in Darfur, told Al Jazeera that tens of thousands of displaced people in Tawila, west of El Fasher, still lack access to food, medicine, and shelter.

He emphasized that the humanitarian situation in displacement areas in Tawila is extremely dire and requires urgent support from the UN, its agencies, regional and international humanitarian organizations, and donors to increase funding for basic life necessities.

Adam pointed out that displaced persons are in desperate need of food, drinking water, medicine, shelter materials such as tents, plastic sheets, bedding, blankets, mosquito nets, water containers, cooking tools, children’s clothing, soap, sanitation items, and psychological support.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressed his “alarm” yesterday evening at the “worsening catastrophic situation in North Darfur State, where deadly attacks continue on its capital, El Fasher.”

In a statement by spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, the attacks were said to have come just two weeks after assaults on Zamzam and Abu Shouk IDP camps, which are suffering from famine. Reports indicated hundreds of civilian deaths, including aid workers.

The statement also expressed deep concern about reports of harassment, intimidation, and arbitrary detention of displaced persons at checkpoints, with over 400,000 people estimated to have fled from Zamzam camp alone in El Fasher.

Despite ongoing insecurity and severe funding shortages, the UN and its humanitarian partners are doing their utmost to urgently scale up emergency assistance in Tawila, North Darfur, which now hosts the majority of those displaced from Zamzam.

Since mid-April 2023, the Sudanese army and the RSF have been engaged in a war that has resulted in over 20,000 deaths and displaced or forced more than 15 million people to flee, according to the UN and local authorities. However, research by U.S. universities estimates the death toll to be closer to 130,000.

In recent weeks, RSF-held areas in Sudan have been shrinking rapidly, as the army has gained ground. The military has expanded its control in Khartoum, recapturing the Presidential Palace, surrounding ministry buildings, the airport, and various security and military sites.

In Sudan’s 17 other states, RSF now only holds parts of North and West Kordofan, pockets in South Kordofan and Blue Nile States, and four states in the Darfur region.