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Sudanese city pounded in unprecedented combat

AFP
Sunday, Sep 15, 2024

PORT SUDAN: Heavy fighting on Saturday shook a Sudanese city besieged by paramilitaries, witnesses told AFP, as US researchers reported unprecedented and escalating combat in the North Darfur state capital.

El-Fasher is one of five state capitals in Sudan´s western Darfur region and the only one not in the hands of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), who have been battling the regular army since April 2023.

Darfur has seen some of the war´s worst atrocities, and the RSF has besieged El-Fasher since May.

“Neighbourhoods are completely deserted and all you can hear are explosions and missiles,” Ibrahim Ishaq, 52, told AFP.

“The central market area has become unliveable because of the intensity of the explosions,” said Ishaq, who fled westward from the city on Friday.

Witnesses reported army bombardment south and east of the city on Saturday and said they heard air-defence batteries firing.