Joint Forces had seized North Darfur base on Saturday

23/12/2024 6:10

Sudan's Rapid Support

Forces (RSF) seized back control of a key logistical base in

North Darfur on Sunday, the paramilitary group said, a day after

it was taken by rival forces allied with Sudan's army.



The conflict between the RSF and the army erupted in April

2023, and some of the fiercest fighting has taken place in North

Darfur as the army and allied Joint Forces - a collection of

former rebel groups - battle to maintain a last foothold in the

wider Darfur region.



The Joint Forces and the army said in statements they had

taken control on Saturday of the al-Zurug base, which the RSF

has used during the 20-month war as a logistical base to channel

supplies from over the nearby borders with Chad and Libya.



Dozens of RSF soldiers were killed, vehicles destroyed and

supplies captured as they captured the base, they said.



The incident could inflame ethnic tensions between the Arab

tribes that form the base of the RSF and the Zaghawa tribe that

forms most of the Joint Forces, analysts say.



The RSF accused Joint Forces fighters of killing civilians

and burning down nearby homes and public amenities during the

raid.



"The Joint Forces carried out ethnic cleansing against

innocent civilians in al-Zurug and intentionally killed

children, women, and the elderly and burnt and destroyed wells

and markets and homes and the health centre and schools," it

said in a statement on Sunday.



The Joint Forces said the base had been used by the RSF as a

"launching point for barbaric operations against civilians" in

areas including al-Fashir, the capital of North Darfur state and

one of the most active frontlines in the fighting.



Since fighting picked up in al-Fashir in mid-April, at least

782 civilians have been killed, according to a U.N. human rights

report, the result of attacks via "intense" heavy artillery and

suicide drones from the RSF and airstrikes and artillery strikes

by the army.



On Sunday, activists from the al-Fashir Resistance Committee

reported an onslaught of at least 30 missiles fired on different

parts of the city.



Seizing control of the city would bolster the RSF's attempt

to install a parallel government to the national government in

Port Sudan, analysts say.